A Dance With Death
by Dazac
Summary: (On Hiatus)What will change when a man from our world suddenly finds himself in the Mass Effect Universe? What changes will his presence cause, and how will those changes affect Shepard and the rest of his team? A Self-insert following the events from ME1-ME3, and maybe even beyond. Rated for language, suggestive content, violence, and heavy emotions. Rating my change. AU. Very AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Something Impossible**

Staring at the floor wasn't helping nearly as much as I had hoped it would. The sense of someone's eyes on me was unnerving. I bit my lip as I rubbed my palms together, trying to do anything to keep from shaking, to keep from shouting out. Why wouldn't he just say something? _**Anything.**_

"Please," I begged, "Please, just say something!"

"What do you want me to say?" He asked.

I looked up at him and found green eyes staring back at me, searchingly darting over my features, trying to find some grain of dishonesty. But I couldn't be dishonest, not about this, not with my mind in such a panicked state. I was frightened of all of this. Terrified. And he just kept staring at me, making it worse with every passing second. When I didn't answer I heard him sigh, and then the shuffling of movement as he stood and walked over to the window and looked out into the void.

"I've looked into what you told me," He said, drawing my attention. He had his arms crossed over his chest and his head turned to glance back at me. "I haven't had the time to fully sort it all out, but that's why I had you write it down for me."

"What will you do?" I asked.

He turned to face me fully, "I will act. I believe you... or at least, I'm willing to for the moment. Your story is certainly outlandish, but so were the circumstances in which we found you. Whatever the truth is, I suppose we'll find out in three days time, won't we?"

I let out a sigh of relief, thankful that I had at least that much for now. But then my thoughts swirled around and I was back to worrying again. What would happen now? What would actually change? Where do I go from here?

"We're approaching the Relay," He said, turning back around, "Once we've docked you'll come with me. I haven't had time to sort everything out, but I've had enough to start acting on. Our first course of action will be to check your health. I'm not sure what the effects will be like, but I'm certain there will be something. As far as I know, no one has ever been exposed to so much eezo before. That you're alive at all is a miracle in itself. Not only that but you've yet to show any symptoms of complications, something that shouldn't be possible." I nodded as he began walking to the door, "When you're ready meet me on the bridge."

I waited until the door had shut behind him and then slumped forward, putting my face in my hands. I could hardly comprehend my situation. This was the sort of thing that you daydreamed about, not the sort of thing that actually happened. When daydreaming it always seemed like it would be so cool, so exciting. Reality was a lot harsher. I was terrified and couldn't think straight. I wanted to hide, to close my eyes and wake up to find it was all just a _really_ vivid dream. I tried thinking back, but the last thing I could remember from before several hours ago was walking into my house, and then... nothing. I had a few images and sounds in my mind, but nothing solid enough or clear enough to identify. I looked at the door and repeated his name in my head again, as though to cement in my mind the reality of it.

_**Nihlus.**_

* * *

"Why have we stopped?" Nihlus asked as he stepped onto the ships bridge.

"Uh, well, sir," the Turian sitting in the pilots seat said, "We're getting some odd readings from the relay, and the exteriors cameras show..."

"Show what?" Nihlus pressed.

"Well, we could be wrong sir," the Salarian in the co-pilots seat said as he turned to face the Spectre, "But... it looks like a body."

"A body?" Nihlus asked in disbelief.

"Yes, sir," the Salarian said as he tapped his console and brought up a screen that showed a close up of the Relay's core. Nihlus leaned in to look at it and furrowed his brow as a small black splotch appeared near it's bottom and began to drift upwards. The Salarian tapped something else and the image changed to show a line spiraling around the core, originating from its center. "We've tracked the revolutions and came up with this model. From the looks of it, the body actually came out of the center of the core and has been orbiting it for several hours. The orbit has been getting wider and wider at a constant rate and should break free in about thirty-seven minutes, at which point..." The Salarian tapped at the console again and the image changed to a single curved line moving away from the relay, "The body will be expelled along this trajectory."

Nihlus stared at the screen as his mind raced. This was too odd, and too unlikely to just leave it be. He turned to the pilot, "Set us along that trajectory with the airlock right in the center of it."

The Turian blinked at Nihlus as he realized what was being asked before quickly turning to the controls, "Yes sir. Adjusting position now... the body should reach us in the next forty minutes."

Nihlus nodded his approval and stayed on the bridge, patiently waiting while the pilot and co-pilot quietly spoke to each other about the absurdity of the situation. They waited until the body was to finally break free, and looked on in awe as it was flung towards them, seemingly encased in a cloud of raw eezo that was gradually fading. As the body neared, the outer airlocks doors were opened, and as soon as it had passed through them, it shut and began the decontamination process before the inner doors opened, and they found a young human unconscious but somehow, beyond reason, alive.

When Nihlus received word several hours later that the human had woken, he went to see him. The human's reaction to his arrival was unexpected, and disconcerting. Nihlus had been expecting a barely aware man with a very addled mind. What he encountered instead was an alert, terrified young man who looked as though...what was the human saying? Seen a ghost? When Nihlus had approached, the human flinched away before seeming to realize what he'd done and forcing himself to relax as much as he could. "What's your name?" Nihlus asked.

The human frowned at him and shook his head, "I can't understand you."

Nihlus looked to the human doctor standing near by with a chart, "He doesn't seem to have a single implant, not even the basic translators, or even haptic feedback nodules." The doctor turned to the human, "He asked what your name was."

The human looked from the doctor to Nihlus and shakily spoke, "Dazac. My name is Dazac. Dazac Praeletum."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Hello Shepard**

I scratched at the elongated scab behind my ear, reminded of what the past two days had entailed. I'd woken up on board a ship bound for Earth in the Mass Effect Universe. It was three short days before the events of the first game, and by some dumb luck, or cosmic coincidence, or divine intervention, or... whatever, Nihlus was on that ship. The Turian Spectre, Nihlus. And he'd questioned me, asked me how I'd apparently gone through a Relay with just the clothes on my back. I told him I didn't know and he'd accepted the answer immediately. Had said he didn't know how it was possible, so me not knowing was nothing unusual... unusual as the circumstances may be. Before he could leave the medbay I shouted out to him, said I knew who he was, where he was going. Said we needed to talk. Now.

They gave me an Omni-tool with a translation program in it so I could communicate with Nihlus one-on-one. "This is going to sound absurd," I'd told him, "But please, just listen until I'm finished." He'd agreed to and I gave him the short version. I was from a different Universe. One where he and everyone else were nothing more than video game characters. He seemed to think about it before questioning my sanity. I laughed, "Hey! I feel insane! How would you feel if you woke up to find yourself in a fictional story, only now, it wasn't fiction anymore?" I went on and proved what I could, told him about Eden Prime and the Beacon, something no one was supposed to know about. Told him about the Normandy, Shepard, Anderson... he asked me to tell him everything, it didn't mater how long it took.

And I did. Without thinking, and without forethought I told him _everything_ about the games. Everything I knew and could remember. It was only after I was done talking that I realized that I'd just told him something he wasn't supposed to know. I started to panic until he shouted at me to pull myself together. Said that my being here in and of itself changed things already, so what does it matter if I change more? This isn't the story I know, he told me, because in the story I know, _I'm_ not in it. Told me that there were several things I'd already gotten wrong anyway. Tech, he told me. I'd gotten stuff wrong about the tech. They already used thermal clips for one. Omni-blades already existed, though they weren't commonly used since most people preferred combat at a distance. Some of the other things he said were either very rare, or still in a prototype stage, but would be on the market in a matter of months, not years.

The day after I woke up he came and talked to me, had me write everything down for him in as much detail as I could. It took all day, and when I was done he just took the datapad and left me to my thoughts. The next morning he came to talk with me again, and told me he'd looked into what I'd told him. Told me he believed me... for now. Then, when we arrived on Earth, he dragged me to a hospital. I spent hours there, and when I left I'd had a full checkup, been immunized, and had implants put in. Now I could use he holographic interfaces, or haptic adaptive interfaces... whatever they were called. I had a translator so that I wouldn't need an Omni-tool to repeat back to me what others were saying, though I did get an Omni-tool as well. I toyed with it and looked through the manual for it while I was left waiting for a while. He also said they'd done some scans and put in a biotic amp. It freaked me out a bit, but he said it was necessary. That I'd been exposed to an ungodly amount of element zero and my body apparently had formed nodules all over the place. That just freaked me out even more, and I was suddenly disgusted with and frightened of my own body.

Once that was over he brought me to a store so I could get some more 'modern' clothes. Then after that I went with him to where the Normandy was docked. I expected to be stopped but, apparently walking next to Nihlus was taken by the people around as I sign that I was ok to be there. I barely heard any of the conversations he had with people we passed, or met who led us around. I was too busy looking around. It was beautiful. The buildings, the sky, the grass, the trees, the clean air. It wasn't until we stepped into an elevator and the doors shut that I was broken out of my thoughts.

"You're going to be my 'assistant,' for the mission. It will give the Captain a reason as to why you know of our destination, as well as keep others from questioning your presence," Nihlus said.

I nodded. This was the story I'd been told to go with for now. I shifted back and forth on my feet nervously. Nihlus had told me that he'd already started planning things out, and that if things happened on this mission like I said they would, he would put those plans into motion. When I asked what they were he told me that I shouldn't worry myself with it. To trust him, and let him take care of things. He also warned me that if I was lying, he was going to make me beg for death by the time he was done with me. I tried to put the thought out of my mind.

"Your plan," I said as the elevator continued to rise, "...Will it change things?"

"Some," Nihlus said as he turned to fully face me, "But I need you to understand, there are some things that have to happen. In order for us to know what is coming and how to react appropriately, there are some things that can not be changed from what you've told me. If that includes the death of someone, you must **NOT** interfere. Let things happen as they will. Do not try to change them."

His words struck a cord in me. Was I going to have to know that someone was going to die and not have a chance to stop it? Oh, god... Reluctantly, I nodded that I understood, and turned to face the walkway as the elevator doors opened.

There it was. The Normandy. Pixels on a screen couldn't do it justice. It was huge. Sleek, polished... it looked like a predator, ready to pounce. My gaze was drawn away from the ship though as I followed right behind Nihlus. We approached two men standing in front of the walkway to the airlock. I immediately recognized Anderson. The other man took me a moment to recognize, but when I did I could hardly believe it. Jeff "Joker" Moreau, in the flesh. I had to fight the urge to grin like an idiot. I loved Joker in the games. He was hilarious. I just hoped he was here as well.

"Nihlus, glad you could make it," Anderson said, standing with his hands behind his back. He glanced at me before turning and gesturing toward Joker, "This is our pilot, Jeff Moreau. Most people just call him Joker, though."

"Hey, what's up?" Joker said, giving a nod to Nihlus. Anderson looked a little irked at the casualness of Joker's reply but didn't say anything.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Nihlus said then turning and gesturing toward me, "This is my assistant, Dazac Praeletum."

"Since when do Spectre's have assistants?" Joker asked, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Since I took him as one," Nihlus replied in a tone that shut down all further questions about the subject.

Anderson turned and looked at Joker, "Why don't you get back to the cockpit, Joker. We'll be leaving shortly."

"Aye aye, sir," Joker said with a quick salute before he began to limp back to the ship.

"My apologies," Anderson started to say when I suddenly realized he was talking to me.

Before he could continue I raised my hands up and waved it off, "It's fine! Really," I said pausing for a moment as I searched for something to say, "I... understand how pilots feel about their ships. They don't like unknowns when it comes to the safety of their 'babies.'"

Andseron gave a small smile and nodded, "I appreciate your understanding. Now then, let's get aboard shall we?"

Nihlus nodded and began to move forward to follow Anderson with me following close behind. "Yes," Nihlus said, "There is no time to waste when the stakes are this high."

I heard Anderson mumble an agreement as we entered the airlock. Once we were through it and had stepped into the ship Anderson looked to the left where Joker was sitting, "Get us in the air Joker."

"Yes, sir!" Joker said enthusiastically.

We approached the CIC and I saw Pressley there, talking with another marine. As Anderson approached Pressley stood up a bit straighter and the marine turned to face us as well. I think I nearly stumbled for a moment when I saw that it wasn't just any marine.

The two saluted Anderson, who gave them a salute back before turning to Nihlus. "Nihlus, Mr. Praeletum, this is my XO, Commander Shepard. And right next to him is our Navigator Pressley."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Nihlus," Shepard said with a nod.

"Likewise," Pressley added, "Though I don't believe I was aware of anyone else coming with you. Mr. Praeletum, was it?"

"Dazac is here to assist me," Nihlus explained. I was glad he was doing most of the talking. I feared opening my mouth and letting something slip that would give me away, or raise suspicions.

"It's nice to meet you," Shepard said, looking at me and nodding.

I nodded back and tried to keep my smile from becoming a grin, "Likewise, Commander. I've heard a lot about you."

Holy smokes! It's really Shepard, in the flesh! Even after being in this Universe for several days, I kept expecting to suddenly wake up. It was really Shepard. In my book he was like... the badass of badasses. I mean, come on, the guy survives getting blown up. For the first time since waking up, instead of feeling overwhelmed and scared, I'm actually excited. This is it!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Eden Prime**

"The Arcturus Prime relay is in range," Joker said as I stood next to Nihlus. "Initiating transmission sequence. We are connected. Calculating transit mass and destination. The relay is hot. Acquiring approach vector." I couldn't help the small smirk playing across my face as I heard someone approaching from behind us with a purposeful stride. "All stations secure for transit," Joker said, "The board is green. Approach run has begun. Hitting the relay in three...two...one..."

Watching as we were piped through a tunnel of space from the cockpit was a very different experience than seeing it from the side of the ship. It only lasted for a second, a bright blue flash, the sensation of time seemingly coming to a standstill... and then it was over. I smiled as Joker went through his check list of the ships systems and told us that the drift was just under 1500 K.

"1500 is good," Nihlus stated, "Your captain will be pleased."

Nihlus turned and walked back toward the CIC and Joker spoke up, "I hate that guy."

I had my arms crossed over my chest and glanced toward Shepard who I saw looking at me, apparently waiting for a reaction. I just shrugged as Kaiden started speaking, "Nihlus gave you a compliment... so you hate him?"

"You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom? That's good. I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead. So that's incredible!" Joker replied, "Besides, Spectres are trouble. I don't like having them on board. Call me paranoid."

I tuned out the rest of their conversation, already know what it would be about and thought over what Nihlus had told me after Anderson had left us in the CIC. He told me I'd be going with him to the surface, that I'd have to act as though he had died, and he would return to the Citadel on his own and message me once he was there. It wasn't exactly what I'd been hoping for. I thought he'd try to change what happened on Eden Prime and after, but he wanted me to make sure things happened like they did in the game, up to the point where Shepard was made a Spectre.

He was the one with the plan and experience though, so I decided it was best to leave it to him. I just hoped I didn't have to end up fighting. I'd never fired a gun before, and even if I did have biotics like he'd said, I didn't have a clue as to how to use them. All in all, I wasn't really looking forward to this.

* * *

Damn! Damn! Damn! Run! Run! Run! I couldn't get my legs to move fast enough it seemed as I sprinted across the open area, jumped over a rock and slid to the ground behind a building. Nihlus had given me his pistol and made me call in to Shepard that he'd been gunned down by the Geth. That was of course right after we'd spotted Saren down by the spaceport. Even from a distance I felt uneasy. I didn't want to get near him. So instead I waited until he'd left before heading down toward the spaceport. Of course I'd forgotten about the husks... and Geth... and the fact that I didn't have a clue what I was doing. I got down there, was spotted, fired at, ran, shot back without really aiming, ran straight into a husk and fell on my ass, scrambled to my feet, and ran like hell. I wanted to go home.

I was standing next to that building that some people were hiding in in the game, trying to catch my breath when I heard the groan. My head snapped up in time to see a husk right as it ran into me and knocked me to the ground. "Shit!" My eyes went wide as I started falling back and I reflexively brought my hands up to keep the thing at bay. My arms felt like they'd been stuck in water with a slight electrical current running through it, the sensation increasing in severity, building up a feeling of pressure as blue wisps of biotic power began to emanate from them. It reached the point where I thought my arms would explode from all the pressure building up in them, and then it was suddenly gone, rushing down my arms to my hands and bursting out in a violent flash and shock wave. The husk went flying back, landing with a thud a good ten meters away and not getting back up.

I leaned on my forearms, looking at it and trying to catch my breath, feeling as though I'd just ran a mile. Before I could even process what had just happened I heard the binary speech of a Geth as it rounded the corner, and then the sound of a rifle firing off a burst of shots, hitting the Geth in the chest and killing it. I turned and looked behind me to see Shepard, Kaiden, and Ashley quickly moving towards me.

"You alright, kid?" Kaiden asked as they neared.

I nodded my head and breathlessly replied, "Yeah."

"You're not used to using biotics, are you?" Kaiden asked as he offered me his hand.

I let him help me up as I shook my head, "No. It's a rather new development for me..."

"You know this guy?" Ashley asked, looking at Shepard. I was a bit annoyed that she was talking as though I wasn't standing right there.

"Dazac Praeletum," Shepard said. I looked at Shepard and saw him looking at me with a frown and something bordering curiosity. He probably could tell that I wasn't familiar with combat, which made me a bit uneasy. Instead of mentioning it though he asked, "Where's Nihlus?"

Great. Acting time. Let's see if I can pull this off... I took a deep breath and cast my eyes down, hanging my head and slowly shaking it. "The Geth ambushed us..." I said quietly, hoping that the wavering in my voice was taken as being shook up about a death and not as worry at getting caught in a lie.

"Damnit!" Kaiden muttered.

"Who's Nihlus?" Ashley asked.

"A Turian Spectre who came with us. He and Dazac were scouting out the route ahead," Shepard explained. He looked at me pointedly, "What happened?"

Shit... he wants details. I shook my head and took another deep breath, partly to stall for time, and partly because I was suddenly feeling extremely drained of energy. That's when I remembered, biotics took a lot of energy to use. I looked down toward the spaceport as I started speaking, not trusting my face to not betray me if I looked at them.

"We found out that the beacon had been moved to the spaceport and headed out this way," I explained, "When we got to that rise," I motioned toward the steep hill that overlooked the spaceport to our right, "We spotted someone using the tram to head to the other end of the spaceport."

"Who?" Shepard asked.

"Another Spectre," I muttered, finding it easy to lace some malice into my voice, "Saren Arterius. Nihlus recognized him immediately and we went for cover before he could see us. He was ordering the Geth around."

"You're kidding?" Kaiden said in shock, "Another Spectre? And he was giving orders to the Geth?"

"What do you know about him?" Shepard asked.

I shook my head and looked toward him, "Not much. He's one of the most decorated Spectre's. And really, really dangerous."

"What's he doing here?" Ashley asked, pressing for answers.

I knew what he was here for. I knew, and I couldn't tell them. Nihlus knew what he was doing... I'd just have to trust him on this. "How the hell should I know?" I replied sharply, "I was too far away to hear what he was saying, and I didn't have time to get a better look because the Geth popped up out of nowhere and started attacking us!"

Ashley looked like she was about to retort when Shepard put his hand out in front of her, stopping her before a sound even escaped her lips. "We can worry about it later," he said, "Right now we need to find the beacon. Let's get moving." He started walking down toward the spaceport and I followed closely.

"There's pry still Geth up here," I warned. He nodded in reply and shouldered his rifle as we reached the steps leading up to the spaceport. Almost as soon as we got up them, Geth popped out from around the corner and Shepard and Ashley opened fire, while Kaiden did something with his Omni-tool and one of the Geth started sparking. As for me, I stood there stupidly for several seconds before I realized I was being shot at and was standing in the open while the other three were moving toward cover. I scrambled toward a crate and dove down behind it, putting my back to it. I looked at my hands to find I was still holding the pistol and decided it was now or never. I leaned out of my cover to see a Geth moving toward the crate Shepard was standing behind and took aim. I squinted my eye shut as I looked down the sights on the pistol and squeezed the trigger. Bang! Miss. Bang! Miss. Bang! Sonuva- I nearly just took Shepard's head off!

I stopped firing as Ashley popped out of cover and unloaded several rounds into the Geth, tearing its head to shreds. I really, _**really**_ need to learn how to shoot a gun properly...

* * *

Ok, that looked a lot different from how it did in the game. In the game all Shepard did was grunt and grimace. In reality it looked beyond painful. He'd screamed after being lifted into the air and I could see his entire body twitching. And then the blast as the beacon blew up... he'd been knocked out cold, and the other three of us had been knocked back by the shockwave. When we got to Shepard's side there was blood leaking out of his nose and ears. I barely heard as Kaiden radioed the Normandy for pickup. Once again, the thrill and excitement was gone and I was terrified again. This was real. _Real._ It was real, and I had become a part of it. I shuddered as a feeling of anxiety settled over me. Somehow, I was here. Somehow, I knew. I knew...I knew I couldn't go back home. I was stuck here, and I was a part of it now, and I could either immerse myself in it completely, or hide from it and wait for the end in a few years time...

I refused to hide.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Plans**

I stood against the wall of the mess, reading through the message on my omni-tool. Nihlus was crazy. Genius, maybe, but crazy. This plan he'd laid out to me was... thorough. There were some bits that he was leaving up to my discretion, but he had planned for a lot of the major events. And he was leaving it to me to make sure things aboard the Normandy went like they were supposed to. Despite the weight of what was being put on my shoulders, I felt oddly calm. This whole mess was just, surreal. I mean, I was using an actual omni-tool... was on an actual spaceship in space... had met actual aliens. Despite the absurdity of it, and despite the fear of imminent death, it was literally a dream come true.

Well, time to make sure this dream lasts long enough for me to grow old in it. I wasn't too thrilled that Nihlus didn't want me changing much of anything, but I understood his reasoning. Knowing what is coming gives us an advantage. If too much is changed too soon, we lose that advantage and have no way of knowing how things will be affected. Of course, we'd still need to change some key things. For starters, we needed more than just the two of us working towards this, which meant involving more people. After some back and forth between Nihlus and myself we came to the conclusion that we could trust six people with this prior knowledge for now, but that it would have to stay that way until after Shepard died. Then we could let more in on it, and finally, once the Collectors had been destroyed, we could tell everyone we needed to.

Pushing off the wall with a sigh, I made my way toward the captain's quarters and rang the buzzer. I heard a muffled, "Enter," and opened the door. Anderson was sitting at his desk and looked up when I entered, a frown crossing his features when he saw me. "Mr. Praeletum," he said, "What can I do for you?"

I looked him in the eyes, hesitating for just a split second before speaking, "We need to talk."

* * *

Anderson let out a deep sigh and shook his head. "This is heavy," he muttered, "Really heavy. Not to mention absurd, but if what you say is true, if all this is coming, we can't afford to ignore it."

"It's coming," I stated simply.

"I'm not so sure about this plan though," Anderson said, "How are we supposed to start preparing if we can't let anyone know what's going on? To keep them from asking questions?"

"That's why we need Hackett in on it," I explained, "With his help as well as the Rachni once we've got them, we can get started on the Crucible a lot sooner. The rest will be in Nihlus' hands. Getting the info on the Crucible from Mars, and the beacon on Thessia."

"And what about these thieves?" Anderson asked, "One of them has knowledge about Alliance involvement with the Reapers?"

I frowned, "I'm not entirely sure on that. I don't know if he's got the info yet or not, and I also don't know where he gets it from. My money would be on Cerberus though, and since he claims he gets it from the Alliance, I'll bet he gets a hold of it soon, before Cerberus goes rogue."

"Hmm, yes, that makes sense," Anderson agreed with a nod. "Getting Kahoku in on this is a good idea as well. He's a good man, and damn tenacious when he wants to be."

I nodded in agreement before taking note of the expression on his face. "Look," I started, "I know it doesn't feel right, not telling Shepard, but-"

"Don't worry," Anderson cut in, "I can tell you don't like it either. If anyone deserves to know, it's Shepard. He doesn't like being kept in the dark anyway, but I'm sure once he knows he'll agree with me; it isn't something that anyone would want to do, but it's necessary. It's our best chance at heading this off before it gets desperate."

"Yeah," I replied a bit despondently as I thought about what things becoming 'desperate' meant, "I just wish there was some way to stop it before all those colonists are-..."

"I know what you mean," Anderson said, "But Nihlus is right. There are some things that we can't change if we're to keep this advantage. Still, letting tens of thousands of people die just doesn't seem right, even if we are saving trillions later on. But, you need to remember, Dazac, those trillions aren't the only ones we're saving." I looked at him in confusion before he continued, "We're giving their children, and their children's children a chance at life."

I blinked in astonishment. I hadn't even thought of that. We would be giving the descendents of everyone living today a chance. We'd be giving the galaxy a chance it has never had to evolve because of the Reapers.

"Well," Anderson said, standing up, "I should contact Hackett, let him know and get his input. I'm sure he'll agree with most of this, even if he is wary of it. He'll likely want to meet you in person to discuss things... once the situation with Saren is resolved." Anderson then turned his head to the other occupant of the room, who had remained quiet throughout the discussion, "What are your thoughts on all of this, Alenko?"

I looked over to Kaiden to see him staring at the floor as he thought, before bringing his eyes up to meet Anderson's and then mine. "Definitely heavy, sir," he replied, "There is one thing I'd like to know though."

His eyes turned to me and I waited for a tense moment before he voiced his question, "Why tell me about this?"

I blinked at the question, taking a moment to process and think about it before letting out a sigh. "It was Nihlus' idea," I explained, "I didn't intend to let you or Ashley die on Virmire, and Nihlus said it would be good for me if at least one other person on the Normandy knew what was going on. Someone to watch my back and make sure I don't slip up or anything. As soon as he said that, you came to mind. I know you don't know me well, and I've only just met you, but if you're even remotely like how you were depicted in the games... it seems like the perfect choice. You're rational, calm under pressure, can be trusted to not try and change something on your own without at least talking to someone about it.

The way I saw it, the only real choices I had out of everyone on the crew were you and Ashley anyway, and as much as I'd like to tell her as well, I don't feel like she'd be able to keep it to herself, or not try and do something rash. She's a damn fine soldier, but she can be hot-headed. I didn't think it was worth the risk, and Nihlus said he'd defer to my judgment on this."

"I see," Kaiden said, his brow furrowed.

The thought that this was a very serious burden that I'd just placed on him occurred to me and I became angry at myself. I should have thought about that beforehand! But I hadn't, and now it was too late to turn back. I let out a deep sigh and looked down at my hands, "I'm sorry for sitting this on you, Kaiden."

Kaiden shook his head, "No, it's alright. I'm thankful that you trust me so much, that you have this much faith in me. I promise, I won't let you regret it."

I looked up at him and he nodded to me. I smiled and gave a nod back, feeling a bit better. "Thanks, Kaiden. I owe you, big time."

He smiled in what I assume was the closest to a smirk as one can get with Kaiden and said, "That you do."

I grinned and chuckled, nodding my head before standing. I looked at my omni-tool and noted the time. It had been a little more than ten hours since we'd left Eden Prime. "Shepard should be awake in about five hours," I said. "I know it's not something I want to do or either of you want to do, but need supersedes want here. We have to go on as though we know nothing."

"You don't need to worry about that," Anderson said, "You'll be the one in the toughest position to keep things on the down-low. We already know how to play things close to the chest. Hell, we have training for it. You just worry about yourself and leave the rest to us. I imagine you're even more overwhelmed than we are, given the circumstances."

I shrugged, "Heh, not every day you wake up in a different Universe, right?"

"Right," Anderson said, "now if you two would excuse me, I have a call to make."

"Aye, aye, sir," Kaiden said before turning to me, "Come on kid, let's go talk biotics. You're gonna need to learn how to control the ability a lot faster than pretty much anyone's ever had to."

I nodded and followed Kaiden out, giving one last nod to Anderson. I was relieved. That had gone much better than I thought it would. I supposed it helped that we had contacted Nihlus to verify what I was telling them. After that, the skepticism I had sensed was quickly replaced by a different mindset, one of military planning. So far everything was going as well as I could hope for.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Welcome to the Citadel**

Listening to Udina yell and whine to the Council was probably the low point of the day. His voice is even more annoying in person, and the attitude he'd had since we walked in was just making me want to punch him. I was leaning against the wall, looking out into the Presidium alongside Kaiden and Ashley before finally turning when I heard Udina's voice directed towards us.

"Captain Anderson, I see you brought half your crew with you," Udina said. Alright, seriously? The condescending tone wasn't helping things. This guy really did look down on everyone else as inferiors.

Captain Anderson nodded, "Just the ground team from Eden Prime. In case you had any questions."

"I have the mission reports," Udina snarled, "I assume they're accurate?"

"They are," Anderson said with a nod before gesturing toward the terminals Udina had been in front of, "Sounds like you convinced the Council to give us an audience."

Udina crossed his arms, the perpetual frown on his face deepening, "They were not happy about it. Saren's their top agent, they don't like him being accused of treason."

Shepard stepped up at this, "Saren's a threat to ever human colony out there! He needs to be stopped! They have to listen to us!"

"Settle down, Commander," Udina said, "You've already done more than enough to jeopardize your candidacy for the Spectre's. The mission to Eden Prime was a chance you could prove that you could get the job done. Instead Nihlus ended up dead and the Beacon was destroyed."

I glanced over my shoulder to them and smirked when Anderson replied without missing a beat, "That's Saren's fault, not his."

"Then we'd better hope the C-Sec investigation turns up some evidence to support our accusations, or the Council might you this as an excuse to keep you out of the Spectre's."

Udina then had Anderson go with him to get things ready for the hearing while telling the rest of us to make our way up to the Citadel Tower on our own. The moment the door had shut behind them Ashley huffed, "And that's why I hate politicians."

I shook my head and sighed before muttering, "Some things never change."

"Come on," Shepard said, "Let's get moving."

* * *

"Saren's hiding something, I need more time! Stall them."

There he was. As soon as we'd stepped off the elevator I'd spotted Garrus talking to his boss. We approached and came within hearing distance just as the conversation was ending, it seemed.

"Stall the Council?" The other turian said, shaking his head, "Don't be ridiculous. Your investigation is over, Garrus."

I tuned out the rest. I knew how the conversation went. Instead I used the time to take a better look at Garrus. I gotta say, that visor thing over his eyes is pretty cool looking in real life. I'd have to figure out what exactly it did when I got the chance. Once Shepard had finished his chat with Garrus we headed up to the chamber area, meeting Anderson at the stairs. He looked at me and gave a short nod before speaking, "The hearing's already started, come on."

Walking up to the platform, the first thing that drew my attention was the over-sized hologram of Saren standing with his arms crossed and Udina spoke to the Council. When we finally made it to where Udina was standing I heard the conversation reach the point it did in the game as Tevos spoke, "The Geth attack is a matter of some concern, but there is nothing to indicate Saren was involved in any way."

Spartus added, "The C-sec investigation came up with no evidence to support your charge of treason."

That's when Udina spoke up, and did the dumbest thing I think he's ever done. "Nihlus' assistant witnessed Saren giving orders to the Geth," he said. I just closed my eyes and clenched my jaw tightly to keep from speaking out. Dammit... I thought Anderson would have spoken to him about that, unless the mission reports were sent before I'd spoken with him. This was going to be **great.**

I opened my eyes to find the Councilors all looking to each other before turning and looking back to us. Valern spoke this time, "Yes... we read the Eden Prime report, and noted mention of one Dazac Praeletum, however we have no record or report from Nihlus ever stating that he had enlisted the aid of a young human."

Well, shit.

"What's more," Spartus added, "When we looked through public records we could not find any entry of someone by that name."

Double shit.

I felt every eye in the place turn on me and had to take a deep breath to keep my composure. Alright. I can do this, just give them the story Nihlus helped make about where I'm from. Taking another breath I spoke, "There's no record of me because I wasn't born in Council space. I spent my first few years of life in the Terminus systems, and when I came to Council space, I was never documented."

"And what about this claim that you were aiding Nihlus?" Valern asked with obvious disbelief in his tone.

Crud, that wasn't something Nihlus and I had gone over. What do I do? What do I do? I looked toward my feet and clenched my fists as I spoke, trying to act as though I were ashamed of something. "Nihlus..." Damn, how do I phrase this? "Nihlus never mentioned me in order to protect me."

"Protect you from what?" Tevos asked with a frown.

I shook my head, "I can't tell you."

"If you don't tell them, we'll lose all credibility in this case," Udina snarled.

I shot him a glare even as I thought over his words. If that happened... "I-... There are... There are certain things I know. Knowledge that would be incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands."

"What sort of knowledge?" Spartus asked.

I shook my head again, "I can't tell you."

Tevos shifted on her feet slightly and spoke up, "Keeping such things secret in these circumstances will not help your case."

I turned my gaze to her and thought. Should I? What if she doesn't understand the reference? I can't outright say it, that could screw things up down the road. Ah, hell. "We all have our secrets," I said, "Isn't that right, Councilor?"

"Are you trying to imply something, human?" Spartus said, putting a slight emphasis on the word 'human.'

I crossed my arms over my chest, "I'm implying that my secrets are not the ones you need to be worrying about. It's Saren's secrets that should concern you."

"I resent these accusations!" Saren said, "Nihlus was a fellow Spectre, and a friend."

"That just let you catch him off guard!" Anderson shouted.

Saren's expression changed to what I can only assume is the equivalent of smugness for turians. "Captain Anderson, you always seem to be involved when humanity makes false charges against me." His gaze turned to Shepard then. "And this must be your protege, Commander Shepard. The one who let the beacon get destroyed."

"The mission to Eden Prime was top secret," Shepard said, glaring up at Saren, "The only way you could know about it is if you were there!"

"With Nihlus gone, his files passed on to me," Saren stated, "I read the Eden Prime report... I was unimpressed. But what can you expect, from a human?"

"Saren despises humanity!" Shepard said as he leaned forward, "That's why he attacked Eden Prime!"

"Your species needs to learn its place Shepard. You're not ready to join the Council. You're not even ready to join the Spectres," Saren said, causing my fist to tighten.

Udina was appropriately angered as well. I think that's the one thing I'll likely ever agree with him on. "He has no right to say that! That's not his decision!"

Tevos looked up to Saren's hologram as she gestured toward us, "Shepard's admission into the Spectres is not the purpose of this meeting."

"This meeting has no purpose," Saren replied, "The humans are wasting your time Councilor, and mine."

Shepard looked to the Councilors, "Saren's hiding behind his position as a Spectre. You need to open your eyes!"

Valern frowned and spoke, "What we need is evidence, so far we've seen nothing."

"There is still one outstanding issue," Anderson said, "Shepard's vision. It may have been triggered by the beacon."

"Are we allowing dreams into evidence now?" Saren asked, "How can I defend my innocence against this kind of testimony?"

"I agree," Spartus added, "Our judgement must be based on facts and evidence, not wild imaginings and reckless speculation."

"How did you become a Councilor?!" I said, drawing everyone's gaze.

Spartus' brow lowered as he looked at me, "Excuse me?"

I took a step forward and directed my words toward him, "For someone who's supposed to know all about and help manage a society based off of Prothean tech, you sure are ignorant!" Apparently I stunned him and everyone else into silence and so I continued, "The beacons were designed to transmit information directly into the user's brain. Shepard said it appeared to be a warning. If that's the case, brushing it aside is the most wild and reckless thing you could do!"

Yes! I feel like a badass for shouting down the Council. Now I just have to hope it doesn't come back to bite me in the ass...

"And you know a lot about the Prothean's? Tevos asked.

I smirked and replied, "I know quite a bit more than most, though, I guess I wouldn't know nearly as much as your Goddess."

The look on Tevos' face... priceless. Too bad I couldn't get a picture. She was very quick to compose herself though she did look at me with a rather odd expression. It was like a mix of fear, anger, and curiosity. And I just realized that this was definitely going to come back and bite me in the ass... Should've kept my mouth shut.

Apparently the other two Councilors were completely unaware of her reaction and just looked utterly confused with my statement. They looked to the others and Tevos took the initiative, "Do you have anything else to add?" I shook my head as Valern then addressed Shepard, "And what about you, Commander?"

Shepard snarled, "You've made you decision. I won't waste my breath."

Tevos and Spartus looked at each other and then the former spoke, "The Council has found no evidence linking Saren to the Geth. Ambassador, your petition to have him disbarred from the Spectre's is denied."

"I'm glad to see justice was served," Saren said. The bastard just had to get in the last word...

We made our way off the platform and gathered nearby. No one spoke until Udina walked up to us. "It was a mistake bringing you into that hearing, Captain. You and Saren have too much history, it made the Council question our motives." He then turned to me, "And you! Are you insane? You've completely undermined everything."

I crossed my arms and gave him a hard look, "No, Udina, I haven't. If anything, you should be thanking me."

"Thanking you! For what? Nearly getting all of us kicked off the Citadel?" Udina complained.

I leaned forward and spoke in a low tone, "For getting Tevos in our corner. Now any amount of evidence, no matter how small, will get us her support."

Udina blinked at me, apparently utterly confused by how I'd come to this conclusion. Guess that means the idiot didn't see the asari councilors reaction. Apparently however, Shepard did because he then spoke, "Would it have something to do with what you said about her 'Goddess?' What did you mean by that?"

"Like I said," turning my gaze to Shepard, "We all have our secrets. I just happen to know one of her species' more damning ones." I then turned my gaze back to Udina and started speaking even as I saw his mouth start moving, "And don't ask for details. I'm not giving you any."

"How do you 'just happen' to know some damning secret about the asari?" Ashley asked, frowning heavily as she crossed her arms in front of her.

I looked at her with mock confusion, "What? You don't think Nihlus kept me around for my good looks do you?"

She just blinked at me, as did everyone else, before they all let out a simultaneous sigh. Ok, I get it. Bad joke.

"Forget I asked," Ashley said shaking her head. "What do we do now though?"

"We need to find some way to expose Saren," Anderson suggested.

"What about Garrus?" Kaiden asked, "That C-sec investigator we ran into arguing with the executor."

"That's right!" Ashely said, "He was asking for more time to complete his investigation!"

"Any idea where we can find him?" Shepard asked.

Udina gave a nod, "I have a contact in C-sec who can help us track him down. His name's Harkin..."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Hero  
**

Well, it can be safely said that Harkin is indeed an ass. Seriously. I had the urge to punch him before his mouth even started to move. That's never happened to me before. Though, I suppose knowing what to expect to come out of his mouth likely influenced that. I flex my hand as we walk through the wards, heading to the clinic where Garrus should be. Apparently Shepard sees my hand flex because he speaks up, "Was it really necessary to hit him?"

I look to Shepard as we walk, "Yes! I was expecting him to be an ass, but _that_ was way more than what I'd expected."

"You have to admit, he was being very explicitly vulgar, especially toward Ash," Kaiden said.

Ashley let out a soft snort, "Hell, I wanted to do more than punch him. Seriously though, I'm surprised you didn't break your hand."

"Heh," I smiled, "His head is certainly dense enough... and it did feel like punching a brick wall."

"Punching a brick wall?" Ashley said incredulously, "Seriously? I haven't heard anyone use that phrase since my grandpa said it when I was a kid."

Crap! I should've known something like this would happen... I mean how many break buildings must be left standing on Earth right now? Quick, gotta say something to allay any suspicion...!

...

"Meh," I say with a shrug.

Okay... could've done that better. Still, this could work. Act as if it's no big deal and it'll be forgotten...

"Here's the clinic," Shepard says, drawing everyone's attention as we approach the door.

Without a pause, Shepard opens the door and steps in, the other three of us stepping in after him to get a look at the interior of the clinic. Alright. There's Garrus sneaking toward the corner, and there are the thugs threatening the doctor. The one threatening her looked up and saw us, immediately grabbing the doctor to use as a shield and pointing his pistol at us.

"Who the hell are you?!"

BANG

Boom, headshot...

The thug falls limply to the side as Garrus steps out with his gun raised and the other thugs give him a deer-in-the-headlights look. Ok, let's see if what Kaiden talked to me about is gonna be useful... I take a step forward and pull my arm back a bit. Breathe...focus on your arm...feel the muscle as it tenses...now focus on that sensation...will it to become stronger, more pronounced...feel the charge...the pressure building up. Don't mind the glow, and don't let it distract you. Get the pressure to the point it almost becomes painful...to where the charge feels as though it's starting to overload all your senses...a slight buzzing in the ear...tremors through your body...and odd, almost metallic taste and smell...look straight at your target...throw your arm forward as you push all the pressure into your hand...let it go! The bluish ball of energy feels like it bursts out of my palm and moves through the air much faster than I thought it would. But it works! It impacts against the shoulder of one of the thugs and lifts him off his feet and makes him spin several times before he falls out of sight behind the counter.

And then everyone else starts moving past me, firing their weapons. The thugs get off only a few wild shots before they're killed, and then it's silent. A silence quickly broken by the sound of weapons folding back up as they're put away and the others move to the doctor. And I just stand there, blinking. I feel like I should be thinking something but no thoughts really form. I just helped kill people. Real people. Not machines, not synthetic zombies, but real flesh and blood people. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?

"Hey, you alright?"

I look up to find Shepard standing in front of me with a frown of concern.

"Huh? Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," I reply.

He raises an eyebrow as he crosses his arms in front of him, "You haven't seen much combat, have you?"

I look down, closing my mouth and swallowing before I respond, "No. Not before Eden Prime."

"But you were helping a Spectre?" Shepard says.

I shook my head and looked to Shepard, trying to maintain eye contact, "I was with Nihlus because of what I knew and my ability to read people. I wasn't there because I could shoot a gun.

"Shepard, we should get moving if we're gonna find that Quarian," Kaiden said.

Thank you Kaiden!

Shepard loos to Kaiden and nods, "Yeah you're right. Come on, let's go find Wrex and then pay Fist a visit."

We all begin filing out of the clinic and I give Kaiden a quick nod of thanks. The lieutenant stays back by me as we walk and begins explaining the conversation I 'missed.' I just nod and give quick 'okay's' in reply, thankful that at least Kaiden's keeping a clear head in all this. He's thinking ahead, making sure everyone hears me finding out this info so that it doesn't look suspicious if I mention something about it later that I don't have a reason for knowing. I'm glad Kaiden's in on this. I'm already starting to slip up and it's been hardly more than a day since Eden Prime.

* * *

Wow. So that's Urdnot Wrex... yeah, I will readily say he is intimidating. Seriously. He's just standing there talking to a C-Sec officer while several others stand around him, and while they're all tense he looks incredibly relaxed. It's like it's just another day for him. And the three parallel scars on his face look much more impressive in real life. As for his eyes... well, his eyes are simply just frightening. Those are the eyes of a predator. You could forget everything else, hell stick those eyes on a pink polka-dotted rabbit, and it would still be something you wouldn't want to be in a room alone with.

And now those eyes are looking this way...and getting closer. Damn, I think Wrex is awesome. A great, deep, real character... in the games, but damn if he isn't scary right now that he's now a real person and standing in front of me.

"Do I know you, human?" Wrex asks, looking at Shepard.

Shepard crosses his arms in front of him and leans back slightly...dang, I think even Shepard is intimidated by Wrex. "My name's Shepard. I'm going after Fist, thought you might want to come along."

"Hmm, Shepard...Commander Shepard, I've heard a lot about you," Wrex says before taking a step forward, "We're both warriors Shepard. Out of respect I'll give you fair warning, I'm going to kill Fist."

"Fist knows you're coming," Garrus says, "We'll have a better chance if we all work together."

Wrex let's out a grunt(no pun intended) and turns to Shepard, "My people have a saying: Seek the enemy of your enemy, and you will find a friend."

Shepard grins, "Glad to have you on the team Wrex." The two shake hands and suddenly I don't feel quite so intimidated. Good, Wrex is an ally now. All that's left here is to save Tali, make Shepard a Spectre, and then get to hunting down Saren. Sweet, things are starting to move along now!

We make our way back to Chora's Den in silence, our pace brisk. The entire walk there I think about the situation. There are going to be enemies, and I'm going to have to fight, maybe even take a life...I have to be prepared to do that. How the hell do you prepare to do that though? Just squeezing the trigger and watching the person drop seems so...cold. Heartless. I feel as though doing so would make me a monster, but what else can I do? Sooner or later it's going to come to that. Monster...what makes a person a monster...the Reapers are monsters, cold, brutal, unyielding. I can't do that. I care about life, and taking a life is not something that should be done callously. I refuse to be brutal, having compassion, looking for alternatives...that's who I am. Mercy...I want to give mercy and yet in spite of that I know, I _know_ there will be times where I can't give it. I won't be a monster, but then... what will I be? Well, this is like a dream come true...so, I guess I could work toward making another one real as well. I mean, who hasn't dreamed of being a hero?

A hero. Someone who is courageous, compassionate, and willing to die so that others might live. I can be compassionate. Would I die for another person? I've daydreamed about it, saving a life at the cost of my own, but could I actually do it? I'd like to believe I could, but if I'm honest, I really don't know. And courage. Not an absence of fear, but a mastery of. It is okay to fear, fear is normal, natural. But fear shouldn't get in the way of ones actions, it shouldn't make someone hesitate or flinch back. It shouldn't keep someone from being willing to take risks.

...I'm not like that. I want to be, but, I'm not. I've feared everything throughout my life, even to the point where I can hardly claim to have any friends. The fear of being turned away has defined me for nearly two decades, and it's only recently that I've been able to start opening up more... and now I've wound up here. A second chance. A second chance... how many people ever get a second chance, to be who they dream of being, to start over, begin anew? How many people have the will to walk away from everything they've ever known? I don't, I know that, but that hardly matters in this situation. I don't get the choice. I'm here now, and I need to decide what to do with myself. Yeah... I've got to make the most of this right? I could be anybody... so why not be the me I've always wanted to be?

A smile comes to my face as I hear Shepard mention that the Den is closed down. A new start...**my** new start, and it starts right _**now!**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Lack of Forethought**

I let out a yell as I brought my hand forward and blasted one of the thugs with my biotics. I was actually enjoying this, and despite all the gunfire around me, I'd been able to avoid killing anyone, instead just knocking them out with biotic fueled hits.

"Damn," Ashley commented, "What's with the sudden enthusiasm, Daz?"

I looked at her a simply shrugged with a smile on my face. "Most likely," I said, "Just the rush of adrenaline and hyping myself up. It'll pry wear off in a bit and I'll go right back to being scared out of my mind."

"And you're saying that, happily?" Garrus questioned, "Like it's a good thing?"

Wrex grunted and shook his head, "Human's..."

"Let's go," Shepard said as he moved forward, bringing our attention back to the task at hand.

We moved into the small hallway and Ashley and Shepard took up positions on both sides of the door while the rest of us either pointed our weapons at it, or in my case got out of the line of fire. At this point, I knew I was pretty much useless when it came to guns. Granted I found it much simpler to simply hold a gun, aim down the sights and shoot than it was to control a reticle on a screen. That however did not mean it was easier to use a gun however, as my aim well and truly sucked. Obviously I wasn't doing something right with it, so I just opted not to use it for now. Shepard hit the door panel and it slid open to reveal... an empty room. Hmm, no warehouse workers. Different but, not something to really worry about. I followed the others as they moved into the room, past several stacks of crates and then to the only other door in the room. The holographic display on it was red. Great, looks like Fist had time to lock up while we were dealing with his goons.

I watched as Shepard stepped forward and began typing on his Omni-tool. He did something and the display turned from red to orange. Alright, not locked down, but still sealed up tight. He continued tapping away and then held his Omni-tool up to the door. The part around his hand seemed to expand and those little holographic blocks started spinning around. I'm not entirely sure what he did next because he did it so quickly, but it looked simply like he flexed his fingers in a dizzying and rapid pattern and then the display turned green. He pressed it and the door slid open, everyone raising their weapons while I drew my pistol and followed them in.

"Hell no! You're not taking me!"

That shout was all the warning I got before Ashley had suddenly backpedaled into me, knocking me back while Shepard and Garrus dove to the other side of the room and the cover of the partition there. Meanwhile, Wrex...where was Wrex?

"RAAARGH!"

Ah, there's Wrex, tearing one turret out of its housing and then biotically launching it at the other one. I looked on thru the mostly transparent partition as the turrets went up in a hail of sparks before Wrex turned toward Fist in time to watch the thug take a shot to the knee from Garrus. I guess Fist won't be doing any adventuring anymore... damn, that joke sounded bad even to me.

"Wait! Don't shoot," Fist pleaded, "I give up!"

"Tell us where the Quarian is," Shepard said as we all stepped forward.

Fist shook his head, "I don't know where the Quarian is, that's the truth."

Wrex hefted his shotgun and gestured to Fist with it as he spoke to Shepard, "He's no use to you anymore. Let me kill him."

"Wait! Wait!" Fist said in a panic, "I don't know where the Quarian is but I know where you can find her." Wow, hearing that in person is just, odd. He doesn't know where she is, but at the same time he knows where we can find her...thereby negating his first statement. So, which is it? Fist continued, "She isn't here, said she'd only deal with the Shadow Broker himse-"

"We don't need the explanation, just tell us where she is!" I yelled. The longer this took, the less time we'd have to get to Tali.

"The back alley by the markets," Fist said rapidly, "You can make it if you hurry!"

I spun on my heel and started leaving not stopping even as I heard Ashley start to speak up to tell me to wait, only to be cut off by the sound of a shotgun blast as Wrex blew Fist's head off. I started running, leaving the others to catch up. Stupid and reckless, I'll be the first to admit, but I just wanted to get there in time and didn't want to risk her getting killed. Would be better to just avoid the situation altogether if at all possible. I made it as far as just a few steps out the door to the Den when I saw the huge group of thugs approaching. They froze at seeing me there looking at them, and while part of me was stunned that they were literally just right there, the more primitive part of me was simply screaming RUN!

So I ran, not bothering to look behind me until I'd rounded a corner. Ok, am I being chased? No. Good. Maybe they thought I was just a patron who was getting the hell out of Dodge... though I'm still holding my pistol, so maybe that's not it. The thought came to me that they just didn't see me as worth the effort of going after. I mean, I sure didn't look like a threat. Hmm, I'm somewhat insulted now. Maybe I should go back and- No. More important things to do.

I quickly looked around and saw the door which I was pretty sure led to the alleyway that Tali was in in the game. I jogged up to it and opened the door...

"Ah, shit," I muttered.

This did _not_ look like it did in the game. In the game it was a single alleyway with only two entrances. _This_ on the other hand looked like a nexus for probably ten different alleys, and it was not all that well lit. I took a cautious step forward and gripped my pistol a bit tighter as I moved as quietly as I could toward the first alley. I stopped and listened hearing only silence and then peeked around the corner. Nothing. On to the next alley. Nothing. Rinse and repeat.

At the sixth alley I did hear something and very carefully peeked around the corner. My eyes widened and I stepped around the corner. It was Tali! I let my pistol hang in my hand at my side as I approached her quickly. She turned to see me and I saw her tense up, taking a few steps back as I neared. I could see her glowing eyes glancing at the pistol in my hand and I quickly put it away.

"Where's the Shadow Broker? Where's Fist?" Tali asked.

Crud, how do I explain this now... direct would pry work the quickest.

"They aren't coming," I said, "The Shadow Broker doesn't meet anyone in person. Fist is working for Saren."

I could see her eyes widen behind her visor, "What? How do you know that!?"

"We don't have time," I said moving closer to her, "We need to get out of here before Saren's assassins show up."

"Oh, it's a bit too late for that," someone said, drawing my gaze to the darker part of the alley behind Tali.

I grabbed Tali's arm and start pulling her backwards as I stepped back, trying to put as much distance as I could between the turian and two salarians that were walking towards us. In the blink of an eye they'd all drawn their weapons and I dove to the side, pushing Tali with me as they opened fire.

Damn. Damn. Damn. Not this again... I grabbed my pistol as a hand grabbed my shoulder and dragged my behind a crate just before a hail of bullets hit the spot I'd previously been occupying. I looked over my shoulder to see Tali and gave her a quick nod of thanks. In response, she peeked over the crate and then stood in a crouch and aimed her shotgun at the turian. She pulled the trigger twice and the turian went down. As she ducked back into cover I heard the sound of several assault rifles firing and then silence. I looked around the crate to see all three would-be assassins on the ground, and then looked up as I saw Shepard and the others moving swiftly towards us.

I smiled and got to me feet as they got closer, "Nice timing Shepard, t-OUGH!"

Shepard punched me in the face and knocked me to the ground. My eyes were wide with shock and I could only blink up at him in bewilderment as I felt blood trail down my chin. Shepard was glaring down at me, "Are you out of your mind?! I know you don't have combat experience, but I was expecting you to have some common sense! Taking off on your own, putting yourself and us in danger, and then very nearly getting yourself and the Quarian killed! What the fuck were you thinking?!"

I gulped and stared up at Shepard. It was all I could do. I couldn't even get up the nerve to look away from him. He shook his head and gave me a dismissal wave of the hand as he turned to Tali to see to it that she was alright. I just sat there until someone grabbed my arm and hauled me to my feet. It was Kaiden, and he was giving me a worried, yet disappointed look. I glanced at the other to see more disappointed looks being sent my way. I just looked away from them and didn't speak as we made our way back to the human embassy, ignoring the busted lip and blood that was still flowing from it. No one spoke actually, which made it all the more uncomfortable. This was just brilliant, my first mission at Shepard's side... and I screw it all up. This didn't feel anywhere near as exciting as I'd been hoping it would.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**How to Make an Entrance**

Shepard took Kaiden, Ashley, and Tali in to see Udina while Garrus, Wrex, and myself waited outside. I just crossed my arms in front of me and leaned against the wall looking at the opposite wall. My lip had stopped bleeding, but now it felt puffy and still stung a bit. Shepard's got a mean right hook...

"You...alright?" Garrus asked.

I looked at him and then down toward my feet as I responded, "Yeah, I just... I didn't want to risk..."

Thankfully I didn't need to finish as he understood what I was trying to say. He nodded, "Yeah, I can tell. Still, that was pretty reckless. You need to think things through more before you act. Rushing in like that gets people killed."

I sighed, "Yeah..."

We stood out there in silence for several more minutes before the doors finally opened. Udina and Anderson walked out. If I'd been in a better mood, I likely would have laughed at the confused look on Udina's face when he saw us. He shook his head and stalked off though with Anderson in tow. The captain gave me a nod as he passed and then they both disappeared. Soon after Shepard stepped out as well. We didn't even have to ask what was going on before he started telling us, not that I needed to be told in the first place.

"Udina's taking Tali's evidence to the Council, we'll meet them there," Shepard said, "You can come along, but I'll be expecting professionalism. Now let's go."

He started leading us to the Council chambers while I hung back walking next to Ashley and Tali. "Why do I get the feeling that last bit was directed at me?" I muttered.

Ashley glanced at me and then replied, "Probably because it was."

Gee, thanks Ash, that makes me feel loads better. I sighed and decided not to worry about it too much, falling back on what I learned growing up. It wasn't worth worrying about. I made a mistake, it's in the past, look to the future. I'd just have to do better. I heard a ping and looked at my Omni-tool to see I had a message. I was sure I was getting some glances from the others but they didn't say anything as we kept walking. I opened the message and started reading it. It was from Nihlus! I read through the whole thing and blinked incredulously at it for a moment before a smile came to my face. I pictured what Nihlus had laid out to me in my head and couldn't stop the grin that came to me. This was going to loads of fun.

We all climbed into the elevator, which surprisingly was big enough to accommodate all six of us. We rode it up in relative silence until Wrex spoke up, "What is it with you humans and your mood swings?"

Everyone looked at him as Ashley voiced the question on all our minds, "What are you talking about?"

"Him," Wrex said as he pointed at me, "First I don't see much of anything from him, then at the Den he's grinning like an idiot, then he's all depressed because he got reckless, and now he's grinning like an idiot again."

I looked at Wrex while he looked straight back at me. "He does have a point," Shepard said as he looked at me, "What's with the sudden change in your mood?"

"It's probably got something to do with that message he just got," Ashley said to Shepard and then turned to face me, "What was it about."

Oh great, she's making me think it over again and it's making me grin again... damn. I just shook my head and tried to fight my facial expression, "It's nothing, just some good news from a friend."

I watched them all give each other questioning looks while Kaiden looked at me with a raised brow. I think he figured it had something to do with Nihlus, but he wasn't saying anything about it. I just kept smiling as we reached the Council chambers and headed up to see them. By the time we reached where Anderson was waiting for us, I'd gotten all but the smallest hint of a smile off my face. Anderson told us that Udina was already showing the evidence to the Council and then led us up.

We got there just as Udina was speaking, "You wanted proof? There it is."

"This evidence is irrefutable, ambassador," Spartus said, "Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes."

Tevos looked to Spartus and then back to us, "I recognize the other voice, the one speaking to Saren. Matriarch Benezia."

"Who's she?" Shepard asked.

Oh, joy, time for the long winded explanation from Tevos, "Matriarch's are powerful asari who have entered the final stage of their lives. Revered for their wisdom and experience, that serve as guides and mentors to my people." And now I'm getting the feeling that Tevos is talking herself up considering she's also a Matriarch... She continued, "Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic and she has many followers. She will make a formidable ally for Saren."

The salarian Councilor, Valern then spoke, "I'm more interested in these 'Reapers.' What do you know about them?"

"Only what was extracted from the Geth's memory core," Anderson said, "The Reapers were an ancient race of machines that wiped out the Protheans, then they vanished."

"The Geth believe the Reapers are gods, and Saren is the prophet for their return," Shepard added.

Anderson nodded at Shepard's explanation and continued, "We think the Conduit is the key to bringing them back. Saren's searching for it, that's why he attacked Eden Prime."

Valern had his hand up to his chin in obvious thought. "Do we even know what this Conduit is?" he asked.

"Saren thinks it can bring back the Reapers," Shepard said, "That's bad enough."

"Listen to what you're saying," Spartus said, "Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? Impossible. It has to be." Ah yes, here come his questions about them. Too bad I can't just outright tell him what they are without royally screwing things up. "Where did they go?" Dark space. "Why did they vanish?" Because that's how their cycles work. "How come we found no trace of their existence?" They destroyed all of it. "If they were real we'd have found _something_."

"I tried warning you about Saren and you refused to face the truth," Shepard said pointedly, "Don't make the same mistake again."

"This is different," Tevos said. I rolled my eyes, this was even more annoying listening to in person than it was in the game. Freaking politicians. "You proved Saren's a traitor to the Council, we all agree he's using the geth to find the Conduit, but we don't really know why."

"The Reapers are obviously just a myth," Valern said, "A convenient lie to cover Saren's true purpose. A legend he is using to bend the geth to his will."

Okay, I can't do it, I can't keep quiet. I stepped forward a bit so I could see the Councilors better, "For the love of god, you're really going to ignore this?! Hell, it was Benezia who mentioned the Reapers! How do you think she fits into all of this? What, you think Saren brainwashed her?" Well, technically...

"Dazac..." I looked over my shoulder to see Shepard giving me a very pointed look and took the hint to step back and shut up. Once I had Shepard turned back to the Council, "Fifty thousand years ago the Reapers wiped out all galactic civilization. If Saren finds the Conduit, it **will** happen again."

Spartus shook his head, "Saren is a rouge agent on the run for his life. He no longer has the right our resources of a Spectre, the Council has stripped him of his position."

"That is not good enough!" Udina shouted, "You know Saren's hiding somewhere in the traverse, send your fleet in!"

"A fleet can not track down one man," Valern said.

Udina sighed and continued in a more subdued manner, "The Citadel fleet could secure the entire region, keep the geth from attacking anymore of our colonies."

"Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus systems," Spartus said, shaking his head, "We won't be drawn into a galactic confrontation over a few dozen human colonies."

"There is another solution," Tevos offered, "One that does not require fleets or armies."

"No!" Spartus said when Tevos looked at him, "Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectres."

I grinned. Time for an awesome entrance... "How about we put it to a vote?" I asked, quickly adding, "All in favor say 'aye.' Aye!"

"You can't-" Spartus started

"Aye."

I turned and my grin widened when I saw everyone else look to who had spoken. There was Nihlus, walking towards us with a purposeful stride and a determined look on his face. I felt giddy, imagining seeing _that_ in the game.

"Nihlus!" Shepard said, shocked to see the turian Spectre alive and well.

"Commander," Nihlus said, giving Shepard a nod as he strode past me to stand next to Shepard, "Councilors."

"Nihlus, you're alive!" Tevos said, the astonishment visible on her face. "The reports said you had died!"

"Yes," Nihlus said with a nod of confirmation, "You'll have to forgive me, but I saw a chance that was too good to pass up, so I had Dazac report me as killed in action."

I saw a few glances directed at me before the attention turned back to Nihlus. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean, Nihlus," Valern said, probing for an explanation.

Nihlus looked as though he was in thought for a moment before speaking, "When I realized it was Saren who was leading the attack, I came up with a plan. I was already there to evaluate Shepard for the Spectre's. What better test than exposing one who has gone rogue?"

"Wait a minute," Ashley spoke up, "We had to go through all of this as a test?"

Nihlus nodded once again, "For Shepard, yes. I realize it was rather unorthodox, but I believe the results speak for themselves." He turned to face the Councilors, "Councilors, I am formally recommending that Commander Shepard be inducted into the Spectre's and sent after Saren. He has shown he possess all the abilities and required skills, and he would be a valuable addition to the Spectre's."

The Councilors all looked to each other before Tevos raised her head and spoke, "Commander Shepard, step forward."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Aye**

"So, you were planning this the whole time?" Ashley asked me for what felt like the hundredth time. Shepard had been appointed a Spectre and given the mission to go after Saren. At present he, Nihlus, and Anderson were busy discussing... something. I'm guessing the next course of action... for Shepard's benefit. The rest of us were all on the Normandy, in the cargo bay, standing near the wall Wrex was always leaning against in the game.

I shook my head, "Hey, I only knew he was alive. I didn't know he was planning to show up like that until just before we got there."

"The message you got," Garrus said.

I looked at him and smiled, "Yep."

"And it was Nihlus' plan to have you say to put it to a vote and say 'aye?'" Kaiden asked with a perplexed expression.

"Yep! He-..." I frowned. That was actually kind of perplexing. "Come to think of it," I said thoughtfully, "That does seem a bit off. Nihlus has never struck me as the type for making flashy entrances..."

Ashley let out a laugh, "Flashy? That was damn epic!"

"I have to admit, it was rather...oh, how do I put this?" Tali said tilting her head down as she thought before looking back up and making an offering gesture with her hand, "Awe inspiring, I suppose."

Wrex shifted his weight and gave a nod of what I assume was agreement, "The guy everyone thinks is dead, coming in at just that moment and walking in so nonchalantly? Sounds like something you expect to see in a vid, but never in real life."

I smiled happily at the conversation until Ashley turned to me, "So does this mean you were acting about being useless in combat too?"

My mouth twitched, "Heh." Why'd she have to say it so cheerfully? She was so sure of herself in that assumption that I just couldn't bring myself to disappoint her, but I didn't want to lie either. So, seeing no other options, I just went with awkward silence, rubbing the back of my neck and avoiding eye contact.

Her smile disappeared when she saw that I didn't want to give an answer, which I suppose in and of itself was an answer. "Yeah," I muttered, "I know _theory_ behind combat, but as for actual experience..."

"... You're green," Kaiden offered with a bemused expression.

I took in a deep breath and let it out before responding, "As the grass."

Suddenly the intercom beeped and Joker's voice echoed over our heads. _"Hey, sorry to break up your little party, that may I add, I never got the invite to... but Shepard just called and said if you want to get any gear before we head out, to meet him down at C-Sec. Otherwise, you know, keep on partying... without me."_

I shook my head, "You need better jokes, 'Joker.'"

_"Yeah? Well the way I hear it, you need better aim."_

"He's got a point," Ashley said, looking at me with a smirk.

"Gee, thanks, Chief," I muttered as we all started heading toward the elevator.

* * *

We were down in the C-Sec requisitions office looking through gear. The officer there looked more than a little uneasy at having five people in here at once, but he wasn't saying anything, so I guess it wasn't that big of a deal to him. Shepard and Nihlus were just outside the office, speaking with each other. I turned back to the row of shelves that displayed the gear I could get on the spot. I didn't need a pistol, the Predator I had was more than enough, and I wasn't too keen on trying out any other weapons just yet. I did need armor though. Just walking around with a shield harness wasn't going to cut it for what was coming. Little did I know, I wasn't going to get the chance to purchase anything here.

Shepard and Nihlus walked back in and Nihlus made his way over to me. I turned to him and waited for him to speak. "Nice bloody lip," he said.

...

He shook his head, "Shepard told me what happened. He doesn't want you on his ship when you don't have any training to speak of."

I blinked. What? How was I supposed to keep an eye things then? "But-" I started only to have Nihlus cut me off.

"That's why you'll be coming with me," Nihlus said as he crossed his arms in front of him. He nodded his head toward the others, "While they're out looking for Dr. T'soni, you and I are heading to Arcturus station."

"Arcturus?" I asked.

"Yes," he said, "In addition to having some training facilities I can use to give you a crash course in combat, Admiral Hackett will also be there. He wants to meet you in person and discuss... matters."

I looked toward Shepard as he was busy looking at a sniper rifle with Garrus, the two talking about it. Everyone else was looking through other things. Ashley and Wrex were looking at rifles, Kaiden was browsing through Omni-tools next to Tali who was also holding a shotgun at her side. This was not how I'd imagined things going... then again, I'm not sure what I was expecting in the first place.

"They'll be fine on their own," Nihlus told me quietly.

I turned to him and nodded, "I know, I just... was kinda looking forward to it I guess."

Nihlus nodded, "Well, I recommended to Shepard that he check out Therum first," Nihlus gave me a look that I can only assume was a smirk, "Rumors of a Prothean dig site and all..." I smirked back. Well, that was one way to speed things along. With any luck, Liara would be safely on board the Normandy in only a few days. "Come on, let's get going," Nihlus said.

"What about getting gear?" I asked.

"We'll worry about that later," Nihlus said, "The sooner we get going, the sooner you can start training. Shepard, we will be in contact. Good luck."

I turned to Shepard as Nihlus addressed him and watched the newly appointed Spectre nod to Nihlus and then turning back to what he was doing. I could have sworn his eyes lingered on me for the briefest of moments with a questioning look, but then it was gone. I turned to follow Nihlus when a voice stopped me, "You're not coming with us?"

I turned to find Tali standing right in front of me, her head tilted to the side quizzically. "Um, no..." I said, "Not yet anyway. I mean, I will be, there's just other stuff that I have to do first, and..."

"Oh."

"...Yeah..."

"Well, then," Tali said as she shifted her weight, "It was nice to meet you, Dazac. I guess I'll see you again soon."

I nodded, "Yeah. Thanks... You too."

I turned away and quickly followed after Nihlus, feeling like an idiot. Lovely, I'd just dropped back into the mindset I had before winding up in this universe. One of being awkward and nervous with people. I groaned quietly in disappointment with myself. It hadn't been a day since I decided to work to become the kind of person I always wanted to be, and yet already I was acting in ways I didn't want to anymore.

"Is there a problem?" Nihlus asked as we walked.

I shook my head before replying, "Change is hard." The truth, irony, and various interpretations of the statement weren't lost on me. It hadn't been a week since I woke up on that ship. Expecting to adapt to being in an entirely different universe, no matter how familiar I was with it, was not something that could be done in a matter of days. Hell, it would pry take months, if not years to settle with myself that I was here, and this was real. Something I was going to have to put off even attempting until after Saren was dealt with.

* * *

"Hey, Nihlus?" I asked, looking across the shuttle to the turian sitting opposite of me. We were on our way to Arcturus, and thanks to its close proximity to a Relay, we would be arriving in just a matter of hours. By now, Shepard and company were on their way to Therum. Because it was in a system that didn't have a Relay, they wouldn't be able to get there in a few hours. It was actually going to take them around a full day at FTL speeds. Apparently, the ships engines, while being powerful, didn't operate in the same manner as the Relay's. While the Relay's essentially created a tube of massless space, allowing for instant travel, the engines of the Normandy actually had to propel the ship.

Nihlus looked at me and asked, "What is it?"

My mouth twisted a bit before I voiced my question, "Why did you want to enter the Council chambers how you did? It just... doesn't really seem like something you'd do."

Nihlus leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands, "Oh, that. Well,, it did make me look... what's the human term? Badass?" I just stared at him, part of me telling me I should laugh. The other part of me was confused though, and so I just stared with a bewildered expression at the turian. He let out a sigh and started speaking again, "I figured you could use a little fun, something to lighten the mood... distract you."

"Distract me?" I questioned.

Nihlus nodded, "I can't imagine this is easy for you, being in a place you only ever knew through a game. Being in real danger. Knowing what you know, and trying to make the best decisions you can with that knowledge. I remember I questioned you about while we were on Earth, and you said you were fine. You said that you had 'always been able to bury and set aside emotion,' well enough to function in desperate or panicked situations."

I frowned at his explanation. He'd done that for my benefit? And why was he bringing up that conversation? I barely even remembered it. "Yeah, so?" I asked.

"I think this situation you're in right now doesn't really qualify as desperate or panicked," he said.

I let out an unconvincing laugh, "Ha! More like royally fucked up."

"No matter how good you are at setting those things aside," he said looking me straight in the eyes, "You don't have the strength of will to deal with all of this in that manner."

Now I was really frowning, and getting slightly pissed off. Did he have to be so blunt? "How the hell do you figure that?" I asked, "Why are you even thinking about that?!"

"I'm a Spectre," he stated, "It's my job to be able to see and deal with everything that could be a potential problem. I don't mean to insult you Dazac, I am simply stating the facts. It's not possible for anyone in your situation to cope well. I don't see how you can even think it would be."

"I never said that!" I shouted back, "I know I'm not going to be able to deal with it on my own! I know it still hasn't really sunk in yet!"

Nihlus remained calm and nodded, "Yes. However, I don't think you know just how big of an impact it is really going to have."

I just stared at him. I was pissed off, angry, furious even. No matter how I tried to pin it all on him though, I knew that he was right... that only made me angrier, with myself.

"Set the thought from your mind for now," Nihlus advised, "It can be dealt with when it comes up. For now, we need to focus on doing what we can to stop Saren and the Reapers."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**Getting Started**

Arcturus looked massive. Not as big as the Citadel, but still, for something not made by the Reapers it was huge. When the shuttle reached the docking platform, it felt like I was an ant walking into a cave. It was almost disorienting, but thankfully, my focus had to quickly shift to getting off the shuttle, so I didn't have time to dwell on the station's size. Once Nihlus and I got off the shuttle we were greeted by a technician who pointed us to a door and then got to work on refueling and checking the shuttle's systems.

I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting to be on the other side of the door... correction; I'm not sure _who_ I was expecting to be on the other side of the door, but when it opened and we stepped into what I assume was a lobby, Hackett was right there. The guy sure did look grizzled, and his eyes seemed almost weary but still very alert. I wondered how exactly he got the scar, but wasn't going to ask, both out of respect for his privacy as well as the fact that he wasn't alone.

The other person was the first to speak, "Ah! You must be Dazac. A pleasure. Have much to discuss with you."

My mouth was moving as I tried to form words, but no sound came out for several seconds until I'd finally managed to choke out, "Mordin Solus?"

The salarian smiled widely and gave a nod, "Correct. I was contacted by Nihlus, told to meet Hackett, had your situation explained in some detail. Have many questions."

"I'm afraid the questions will have to wait for a time Doctor Solus," Hackett said to the scientist before turning toward me. "I've freed up my entire schedule for the rest of the day. We've got a lot to talk about, and the sooner we get it done, the better."

"Very good," I heard Nihlus say next to me and I turned to see him looking at Hackett, "We should get to it."

Hackett voiced his agreement and then began leading us out of the room and through the corridors of Arcturus station. I just followed with a great deal of confusion. Mordin hadn't been one of the people we'd planned to tell early... so what was he doing here? I looked to Nihlus, drawing his gaze, and he seemed to recognize my confusion and the reason for it.

"My apologies Dazac," Nihlus said, "But I felt that it would be more beneficial to have Mordin helping us from the start than to wait until this business with Saren is over. We could use his expertise, especially with the Thorian."

"The Thorian?" I asked.

Nihlus nodded, "I'll have to explain later, but yes."

If Hackett and Mordin heard us, they didn't acknowledge it, instead just walking swiftly down a hallway. It was kind of odd to see all the people stopping and saluting as Hackett walked by, but he seemed to give a quick nod to each individual and they went back to what they were doing. I think I'd be a little creeped out by that if I were in his place. I'd definitely have a sore neck.

We entered another room and Hackett gave a wave of his hand, "Please, take a seat." I stepped up to the table he'd motioned to and took a seat in one of the chairs, thankful to be off my feet but nervous as to what was coming next. We'd just gotten off the shuttle and the first thing we were doing was this? I'd been hoping to at least get settled first...

"Before we begin," Hackett said as he took his seat and looked at me, "Admiral Kahoku asked that I express his gratitude, mister Praeletum. Thanks to your information, his team was able to destroy that false beacon and didn't sustain so much as a scratch."

"Uh..." I had no clue what to say. How do you respond to that kind of statement? You're welcome? That seems kind of pointless when the person who's doing the thanking isn't even present. The wry smile Hackett gave at my hesitation was reassuring though, and the subject quickly turned to the information I'd been able to give them.

The next several hours were spent going over everything that we already knew. Everything from the start of the first game to the end of the last. Hackett was a bit perturbed when I mentioned that there was some new content that had been coming out that I hadn't seen. I explained what I knew about it, and it was quickly discarded for the time being. Because we didn't have any concrete data on it, we'd just have to deal with it once everything else was in motion. Much of the time was spent talking about how things were going to change now, especially when it came to recruiting everyone. I was pretty adamant about actually getting all the squadmates from the games involved, and while I think the other three at least understood my reasons for it, Hackett seemed a bit hesitant when it came to a few of them.

When we finally finished I felt as though we'd gone through all the games more than a few times. Hackett said we'd meet again tomorrow once we'd all had time to process what had been discussed and we all had some new ideas. I was grateful to be finished with it, but that joy was short-lived. After an hour of rest Nihlus made me come with him to the training deck on the station. An entire deck just for training... it apparently covered all manner of different set ups and scenarios with different environments, different mock-enemies, and different objectives. Nihlus told me I was just going to focus on basic combat, so that was a relief. We made our way down and the first stop was the armory.

Sweet! I get some armor! We approached the officer who seemed to be in charge in the armory and caught her attention. As soon as she saw us she got a surprised and then doubtful look on her face.

"We're here to get some armor for Dazac, here," Nihlus said, gesturing to me.

"Yes..." the officer said as she looked at her Omni-tool, "Dazac Praeletum, was it?"

I nodded and noticed the look she was giving me with narrowed eyes. I smiled slightly, "Not what you were expecting?"

"Not even close," she replied. "Well, let's see how well you live up to your name there, Dazac. You've been authorized to pick out anything you want, so go ahead and start looking."

"Thanks," I said quietly before walking further in. I looked at Nihlus who gave me a curious look that stopped me. "What?"

He shook his head, "It's nothing. Start looking for something you think you'd like. The sooner you pick something out, the sooner we can get to training."

"Joy..." I muttered as I turned and started walking past the wall of shelves and to a terminal. As I thought, it turned out to be a catalog of everything they had, and I started looking through it. This was more difficult than I thought it would be. I wanted mobility and protection, but to get more of one, I had to sacrifice some of the other. I couldn't figure it out, so instead I started looking through things besides armor. I browsed through the weapons briefly but didn't spot anything, and then I started looking through some of the military grade Omni-tools they had. They were definitely better than the one I'd been given. Most were pretty much the same, just with different specs that benefited different programs at the cost of effectiveness of others.

I finally stopped on one though that peaked my interest. When Nihlus saw that I'd taken an interest in one he looked over my shoulder at it and commented, "That's still only in its prototype stage."

"Yeah, so?" I asked.

He pointed to the screen and added, "In order to use its main feature it drains power from your shields."

I frowned before realizing something, "Well, unless I try taking on rockets, using the main feature should make that a moot point, right?"

"Assuming you aren't being flanked," Nihlus chimed, "But if you feel you can be effective with it, go ahead. I'd just recommend an armor set with some extra shield capacitors... as well as expanded Omni-gel storage."

"Omni-gel?" I asked, confused. That had only been in the first game.

Nihlus nodded, "Yes. In order to use the Omni-tool's fabricators to make things such as drones, blades, and the like, it requires Omni-gel. This Omni-shield you want consumes a rather large amount of the stuff. In a prolonged battle, it's quite possible you'd run out."

"Where's it stored?" I asked, curious.

"All Omni-tools store some themselves, enough to be used a few times at least," Nihlus explained, "But any extra is stored in the armor. On most of your human armor it's stored along the forearm in groups of several raised ridges. That allows for quicker access from the Omni-tool because of its location, however it also makes the risk of the Omni-gel being destroyed much higher as the armor around the arms is usually less effective than the armor around the torso."

I nodded at his explanation and turned back to the terminal. Well, that would narrow my search parameters a bit, so I started looking through the armor sets. I finally found one that looked promising, at least it had high shields. "What about this?" I asked.

Nihlus leaned forward, "Hmm, the Kestral Armor System. Another prototype... well, it has adequate shielding, and it is adaptive so you don't have to have everything it shows on the stock model here. I assume you'll want to focus more on your biotics and weapons than in getting up close to the enemy, so I'd recommend swapping out the pieces on the arms, shoulder, and waist."

I selected the option for advanced customization and removed the pieces he mentioned and started looking for replacements. I ended up selecting some arm pieces that had some extra storage for Omni-gel, some shoulder pieces that would allow for easier movement and more flexibility, and then a waist piece with some extra shield capacitors built into it.

"Are you sure you want to keep this headpiece?" Nihlus asked, "It relies on micro-cameras for you to see instead of a normal visor."

That was a good point... if the camera's went out, I'd be screwed. Then again, it was more protection, and I bet that the cameras would have multiple settings, so that might be useful if it was difficult to see... "I'll stick with it," I said.

I finished with that and submitted the request for the armor and was asked to step into a scanner so they could figure out the proper size I'd need. The officer from earlier approached us with a half-hearted smile, "Well, I see you sure put Admirals Hackett's privilege to use." I frowned at her and she added, "You picked out two prototype items, and then customized one of them further."

"Are they expensive?" I asked.

She gave a nod, "Very."

I cringed at the reply, but luckily Nihlus was able to make me feel not so guilty about it by saying, "Considering what you'll be doing with the armor, and the risk you'll be in because of it, it's not really all that much."

"Big mission, huh?" the officer said, "You don't look like you're at the age where you've got that sort of experience."

"I'm twenty-one," I said.

She blinked and opened her mouth to say something but then seemed to think better of it and just shook her head. "Because the armor you requested is a prototype, we don't keep a variety of sizes in stock," she said, looking at a datapad, "It'll take about an hour to fabricate the armor." Nihlus let out an audible sigh of exasperation, apparently impatient to get me started on training. "The work has already started though," the officer added.

"Thanks," I said to her before turning to Nihlus. I gave a weak smile as he just shook his head. I think he got the feeling that I was relieved that it would take longer now, and he'd be right. I had the feeling I wasn't going to be enjoying this training all that much.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**Oops  
**

Basic combat, my ass! This was nuts! I chanced peeking over my cover and immediately dropped back down as a hail of gunfire flew overhead. When Nihlus said I was just going to be focusing on basic combat, I assumed it meant he was going to stick me in one of the other teams that were training. But no, he just gave me a basic run down of how to properly hold and fire my pistol, what to look out for, and a warning to keep my head down... and then he stuck me in the training grounds, and set the training program to the one used to train the freaking N7 operatives. Not the test for them to get in, but training they did once they were actually considered N7.

_"How's it going?"_ Nihlus asked, his voice coming over my radio.

I growled in reply, "How do you think it's going?! This is the eighteenth time I've had to do this because I keep getting killed within minutes!"

_"Well, it's been about nine minutes so far on this run and you're still alive..."_

I had to fight the urge to yell back at him as I started moving along the wall before rushing to another piece of cover. "You said I'd be doing basic combat!"

_"This is basic compared to what you're going to be doing,"_ he said before advising, _"Just think of it like a game, only if you fail, you actually die."_

I was gonna kill him... "The dying part kinda blows the whole game concept outta the water!"

_"You're doing fine,"_ Nihlus said, _"Oh, watch your left_ flank..."

I spun just in time to see the drone fire a bolt at me, taking out my shields and 'killing' me in the simulation. I growled angrily and stood up. This was going nowhere, and I'm sure everyone must have known it, but instead of hearing anything on the radio, all I heard was the intercom saying that the simulation was resetting and I had five minutes to prepare and get back to the starting point... a starting point that was thirty meters away at most.

* * *

That night I fell asleep before my head even hit the pillow, and then what felt like two seconds after that, I was being woken up so that I could start my full day of training while Nihlus talked with Mordin and Hackett. Once I'd gotten back to the training ground I took about ten minutes to myself to think. This was a new day, I felt more alert and energetic, I just had to focus on what I was doing. Act like it's a game... if it's a game it's less stressful, I'll be able to maintain focus better. I sighed and stood up, putting my helmet on and making my way to starting point.

One hour later and I was on my third try. I'd managed to do a lot better than yesterday, but I still hadn't even been able to reach the halfway point. At the moment I was locked in a building, having sealed one door behind me and trying to hack the other before the one I'd sealed was hacked. All this code looked the same though! It was becoming a pain in the ass, and when I finally did figure it out, I still wasn't done. The second part of it was where my Omni-tool was held up to the door and those pieces started spinning around. That part was more like a game, having to flex my fingers at the right moment in order to lock the right piece into place. It was actually more difficult at the start when all the pieces were moving, but once I'd gotten started I was able to get through it with only failing once.

The door slid open and I bolted through, heading for the closest piece of cover I could find, a fake shuttle crash sight, and kept to the edge of it, peeking over quickly to survey the area. Alright, there were patrolling droids who looked to be on alert, waiting for me. Now how was I gonna take them out? They were too spread out to use a grenade, and I couldn't spot any cover that would give me only one side to worry about... It looked like the only way to continue was to get rid of them. I grumbled silently and scanned the area. I'd just have to try and do this so that I only needed to deal with a few at a time as opposed to all of them. I ducked back into cover and moved to the other side of the shuttle, there was a shuttle door stuck in the ground a bit further up, and I quickly dived for its cover, popping back up and almost falling forward again.

From there I had a better view of the side and spotted a small building with open screens that would provide a good vantage point. I'd just have to deal with the droids as they came in turn, the only problem was getting over there. The only way I could see to get close would have be going nearly all the way to the droids, skirting along the wall of the raised walkway they were on, and then turning my back to them as I dashed for the bits of cover closer to the building.

It took me nearly twenty minutes, but I managed to make my way to the wall without being detected. Now I just had to stick close to it and hope none of the droids decided to look over the edge as I was going. That part was easy. The next part had me worried. Once I'd reached the other end I realized that the closest piece of cover was farther than I'd originally thought. Alright, I got this far, I could figure something out... a distraction! What could I use as a distraction. I looked around and saw nothing nearby, but looking back down the wall I saw my salvation. There were several crates stacked on each other. If I could knock those down and draw the attention of all the droids toward that end, I'd be free and clear on this end. Alright, I could do this.

I felt the tingle in my arm as I focused on using my biotics. I had to aim this just right so that it hit the crates but wasn't visible until it did, otherwise they'd know which direction it had come from. Another second passed and I extended my arm, launching the biotic push and watching as it sailed right to the crates. Yes! What a couple seconds now for them to all turn their focus that way... What's that beeping? I looked up and saw a couple of the droids leaning over the railing and looking at me.

"Ah, shit..." I muttered as I started running. I decided I might as well pull out all the stop now, so I activated the main feature of my new Omni-tool. The Omni-shield flared up just in time to deflect some fire that was being directed at me. I kept it between myself and the droids that had by now all seen me, as I ran to the building. I got to it and dove inside. Ha! What luck! There was a ladder... I could get to higher ground! I deactivated the shield and practically flew up the ladder coming out to the top of the building to find plenty of cover and a walkway that would take me over to the other side of the wall that the droids were guarding. I ran across, not too worried about making noise. So long as I was able to get away, I was fine with that.

I reached the other side and slid down the ladder there, ecstatic to find no enemies coming through the door they'd been guarding to get me. Now I could... what's that? A fuel tank? Oh god, the temptation... A minute later and I opened the door I'd been trying to get to to find most of the droids still on the other side. They all turned as the door opened and I just grinned and ran to the side. As I passed the fuel tank I tossed a timed grenade under it and kept running, turning around just in time to see the droids aiming at me while standing next to the tank...

The grenade went off, destroying the fuel tank and creating a fireball that completely engulfed the droids. HA! That was awesome! I can't believe I actually pulled it off. I was grinning wildly, quite pleased with myself when a thought suddenly struck me; This was a training simulation... that explosion was real...

As if to confirm my sudden realization, red flashing lights started flashing and warning klaxons started blaring while an automated message played, telling everyone to evacuate the area. I just stood there, already knowing I was screwed. I just blew something up that I wasn't supposed to...

I sighed and closed my eyes, hanging my head as I muttered, "Ah, shit..."

* * *

"I hope this isn't a sign of things to come," Hackett said rather bemusedly, "Cleaning up after Shepard is costly enough."

I looked up at the mention of Shepard and Hackett turned to me, "Shepard was able to get to T'Soni, the Normandy is on its way here as we speak."

"Here?" I asked.

"Yes," Nihlus said sourly, obviously not pleased with the fact that I'd caused chaos on the station after only being here for a couple of days. "Before your little stunt at the training grounds we contacted him. While you were there, we were here planning, and Mordin came up with an idea that we believe is the best thing we've got now."

I slumped in my seat a little, "You're changing the plan again? What is it now?"

"Ah, glad you asked," Mordin said, "Thought over situation. Approaching situations. Many variables, many possibilities. Sought possibility with best outcome, came up with plan."

"Plan to what?" I asked.

I looked at Nihlus and Hackett and they remained silent, actually seeming to avoid looking directly at me. I turned to Mordin and the salarian took it as a cue to speak, taking a deep breath and then saying, "Telling Shepard the truth. About you. About everything."

I couldn't seem to come up with a response to that. I just blinked, unbelieving, at Mordin and then Nihlus and Hackett as well. They all looked dead serious. I took a deep breath and slowly let it out as I tried to come up with some way to reply. I couldn't think of anything to say that would have any finesse to it, so I fell back on the catch all for utterly confusing and daunting situations like this.

"Fuck..."

* * *

**_A/N. Well look, the first authors note for this story. I want to thank everyone who has read and reviewed, it's great to know you're enjoying the story especially since I'm not at peak writing form at the moment. Please continue to read and review, and let me know what you think of things so far. Thanks, and I'll see you all next chapter!  
_**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

I wasn't looking forward to today. I was going to have to explain everything again, and tell everyone that I already knew them. Somehow, I doubted they'd be pleased to learn that. But there wasn't anything I could do about it now. I felt slighted by the whole thing, Hackett, Nihlus, and Mordin hadn't involved me in the decision until it was already made. Being cut out of the loop like that, especially when I was the one who gave them all the information in the first place, was irritating. I just hoped I'd have some time to figure out what I was going to say to explain why I hadn't wanted to say anything. I knew Shepard wouldn't be mad at the others, he took his orders from Hackett and Anderson afterall, and trusted them to do what was best, and Kaiden had just been following orders as well. Me on the other hand... I was the one who had all the prior knowledge, the one who'd advised them on what action would likely be best. I was the one who'd suggested letting Shepard die so that we could predict things later on, and even if I hadn't liked the idea, I'd still been willing to go with it.

I was making my way to the room that had been used for our meetings and saw Anderson heading in the same direction from the docks. He must've just arrived...

"Dazac," he greeted me with a nod, "You alright? You look exhausted."

I mumbled out a hello and had to fight back a yawn as I fell into step beside him. "I didn't sleep well," I explained.

He nodded, "I don't blame you. Luckily you won't have to go over your story yet again."

I turned to look at him with a frown. "Why not?" I asked, utterly confused.

"Hackett didn't tell you?" Anderson asked with some surprise, "He sent a copy of everything you've written down for us so far, to the Normandy. Shepard and the entire ground team have read it, as well as Joker, Pressley, and Chakwas."

I blinked at him. Why hadn't they told me about that?! I spent the whole night worrying about how I was going to explain everything! I groaned aloud at the revelation and brought a hand to my forehead. "Oh, my head..." I muttered.

Anderson gave a sympathetic chuckle, "Don't worry. I'm sure they'll hold off on their questions for later. For now, just focusing on the facts and what we're going to do is the main order of business. Here we are."

I shifted my attention back to my surroundings and found that we were standing at the door to the meeting room. I glanced at Anderson and asked, "They're already here, aren't they?"

He gave a smile and nod, "I'm afraid so. They arrived just under an hour ago and came straight here. I'd been speaking with them via comm's until just ten minutes ago when my shuttle docked. Don't worry, Dazac. Mordin made the recommendation that they not bombard you with questions about anything other than what we're here to discuss right now, namely how we're going to deal with Saren. Once that's been dealt with and Saren's been stopped, we'll focus on the rest of it."

I took a deep breath and let it out, my shoulder slumping slightly. I suppose that was the best I could hope for. Not waiting any longer, Anderson opened the door and stepped in and I followed, forcing my feet to move forward and into the room.

"Well, hey!" I heard Joker say loudly, "If it isn't our resident extradimensional traveler!"

"Joker..." Anderson warned.

"Alright, alright, geez," Joker said, "Seriously though, Dazac, you look like you need to lighten up a bit. It can't be all bad right?"

I shook my head and somehow found the will to speak, "No, it isn't. But it hasn't exactly been great either."

"I wouldn't have expected anything different. It must be hard for you," a new voice said.

I looked to who had spoken and there she was, Liara. I've gotta admit, actually seeing her made my mood a bit better as she was one of my favorite characters. Not to mention that the games didn't do her any justice. She looked stunning, and still had an air of innocence about her that wasn't there in the second and third games. I smiled at her and just shrugged, slowly making my way to a seat, feeling everyone's eyes on me as I went.

"It's kind of uncomfortable having you all looking at me," I admitted. I looked up to see most eyes divert away from me, if only slightly.

Wrex however... "Well what do you expect?" the krogan asked, "We get all this crap dumped in our laps yesterday and you're the source of it all. Like it or not, all eyes are gonna be on you until we're all satisfied that there's nothing more you can tell us."

"Maybe we should just get the questions out of the way now," Garrus offered.

It was Shepard who saved me then, replying, "No. We've already been over this. Any questions we have for Dazac are going to have to wait until we're on the Normandy and under way."

"I would think you of all people would have questions for him, Shepard," Wrex said, "Afterall, he was planning on letting you die."

Shepard's eyes shifted from Wrex to me, and he met my gaze, staying silent a moment before closing his eyes and speaking, "Yes, he was, and in his position I would have done the same. Making a decision like that is never easy, but he approached the problem logically. Besides, the plan has changed now, so what would have been doesn't matter anymore. For now let's focus on what's coming and how we can save as many lives as possible."

Now, _THAT_ was a load off. Shepard wasn't pissed at me, thank heavens, which meant I wasn't going to have to worry about explaining it. Nihlus cleared his throat and we all looked to him as he began speaking, "We all, obviously have questions for Dazac. I'm sure we all have our doubts as well, since despite what he's accurately predicted so far, nothing that has happened yet is something that couldn't have been planned beforehand."

Well, that was unsettling. I looked at Nihlus worriedly, I thought he did trust me... He met my gaze, "It's not that I don't trust you, Dazac, it's just that the possibility is there."

"It's a pretty slim possibility..." Kaiden said.

"It's still a bit convenient though," Ashley said, "Showing up right before everything started..."

"That's enough," Hackett commanded, "We can discuss these things later. Right now our focus needs to be on stopping Saren. Now, I believe Doctor Solus had something about the Thorian?"

Mordin nodded, "Correct. Thorian seems a fascinating creature, could learn much from it. However, not what we need to speak of. The spores, Thorian releases them, controls those who breathe them in, creates a connection that is apparently shared. Subconscious level of course, no control or awareness of, just a 'feeling' of where others are and their condition, could be quite useful in battle. Drawbacks could be dire however, unknown physical ailments and complications, destabilization of element zero within the body suggests it speeds up decay. Cou-"

"How about we just skip to the part about it's uses against Indoctrination?" Nihlus interrupted Mordin mid rant.

"Of course," Mordin said, seemingly unfazed, "If reality holds true to conventions of the game, spores could possibly be used to resist Indoctrination. Asari that is used by Thorian, Indoctrinated, however, spores and connection to Thorian override influence with stronger influence. Still Indoctrinated to a degree, yes, but further Indoctrination not possible. Brings whole process to standstill."

"That is rather interesting," Chakwas said thoughtfully, "From what I understand of what Dazac wrote about the Indoctrination process, it uses signals to affect the brain and alter it. If these spores are able to stop those signals from having an affect on an individual, we might be able to synthesize something for our own people."

"Exactly!" Mordin said with a nod, "Need samples!"

"I take it this means our next stop is Feros?" Shepard asked.

"The decision's up to you, Shepard," Anderson said.

Shepard seemed to think it over before giving a resolute nod, "Feros it is then. We can get these samples, the Cipher, and there should be some Geth data there Tali could use for her pilgrimage, right?"

"Uh, yeah," I said, "But..." I looked to Tali, "If you'd be willing to hold off on returning to the Fleet after Saren's been dealt with, for at least a couple months, I think there's a much better pilgrimage gift you could get for your people."

Tali's head tilted slightly as she looked at me, apparently curious but not sure of what I was talking about. Shepard spoke up, "That'll be up to her, but it'll have to come later. For now our focus is on Saren."

"It's decided then," Hackett said.

"Good," Anderson said, "Get Dazac done with his training as soon as possible, and then we can get underway."

...

"I don't think so," Hackett said drawing confused looks from everyone. I just looked at the table, knowing what was coming. "Any further training Praeletum does will have to be in the field training."

No one responded for several seconds as everyone looked at each other before all turning their eyes on me. I hung my head a bit lower and tried to stave off the feeling of embarrassment.

"Why's that, Admiral?" Anderson asked.

Hackett looked at me pointedly and then turned to Anderson, "He used a flash-bang grenade to ignite a fuel tank in one of the training arenas and caused extensive damage to the course, not to mention blowing apart eight droids."

I felt eyes turn on me and wished that I could sink into the chair. Anderson actually laughed and shook his head. "Reminds me of someone else," he said turning and looking at Shepard.

I looked to Shepard to see him actually smirking, "He was using the environment to his advantage to deal with a larger opposing force. Nothing wrong with that, is there?"

"Normally, no, there isn't," Nihlus said, "But considering it was a training simulation that was using pure energy bursts to take down shields and only shields, it was also quite extreme."

"I'd imagine pretty expensive as well," Kaiden chimed in with an amused look on his face.

I groaned in despair as they continued talking about it, all sense of formality disappearing completely it seemed. Not a bad thing considering this wasn't an 'official' debriefing, but still, it caught me off guard that even Hackett joined in. He was always portrayed as the serious, no-nonsense leader, in the games. In reality, it seemed he was more than just an Alliance Admiral...

* * *

Stepping back onto the Normandy felt better than I'd expected it to. I could now finally say I was on the mission, or at least, a mission. To say the mission it would have to have been the same as the games, but that possibility was well and truly gone at this point. This all still felt like a dream. Maybe I fell asleep and can't wake up for whatever reason. I doubt that though.

"So, not only does your aim suck, but things blow up around you as well," Joker said, killing my good mood with sarcasm, "Might want to try keeping that stuff to a minimum, yeah? One Shepard's enough to deal with."

I rolled my eyes and spotted Shepard who seemed to have overheard. I smirked as he walked toward the pilot, "My hearing must be going because I could have sworn you just said that my aim sucks, Joker."

"Uh... No I didn't?" Joker said in mock fear as he looked at Shepard.

The Commander shook his head, "Get us out of here Joker... before Dazac has a chance to blow anything else up."

I gave a deadpan look at Shepard as he looked over his shoulder at me. "I'm never going to hear the end of that, am I?" I asked.

Shepard gave a shrug, "Probably not."

"Joy," I said in defeat before turning to the right and heading toward the CIC.

"Dazac," Shepard said, getting my attention. I stopped and turned to see him walking toward me and pointing toward the CIC, "Why don't we go to the Comm room?"

Oh boy... what was it now? I nodded silently and kept walking as Shepard fell into step next to me. Once we were inside and the door had closed, Shepard went and stood i nth center of the room. He crossed his arms in front of him and turned to face me. I just waited for him to start speaking about whatever it is he wanted to talk about.

"How are you holding up?" Shepard asked.

I was a bit shocked by the question and simply responded with a, "Huh?"

"I won't pretend to understand your situation," Shepard said, "Even with it so hard to believe, Hackett and Anderson seem to trust you, and that's enough for me. So, going off the assumption it is all true; How are you holding up?"

Wait, Shepard was worried about me? Well, I guess that makes some sense... I took a breath and slowly let it out before responding, "I... I guess it still kinda feels like a dream most of the time. I mean, I can go along with it all now, but..."

"Worried about what'll happen once it really sinks in?" Shepard offered.

I just gave a nod, "Yeah."

"I spoke with Nihlus before we left," Shepard said, "He expressed some concern for what might be come of your mental state as things progress."

I looked up at him with a frown. My mental state? He didn't think I could handle it? I was handling it! There hadn't been any problems so far, I was doing fine, I wasn't panicking... So what the hell? Now I wanted to ask Nihlus why he was worried about it, but that wasn't possible now that we'd left. Nihlus was staying behind to help coordinate other things with Hackett and Anderson, as well as make sure Mordin had a secure place to work that would be exceedingly difficult to compromise.

"I'm fine," I told Shepard flatly.

He gave a nod and said, "Good." I couldn't tell what he was thinking, so I didn't know if he was worried as well or not. "I'll be around the ship if you need anything," Shepard said, uncrossing his arms and walking past me. I turned as he passed and watched as he stopped at the door and looked over his shoulder, "And welcome to the team, Dazac." And then he was gone.

I took another deep breath and slowly let it out. Shepard's personality wasn't quite what I'd been expecting... then again, he wasn't the only one I'd been surprised by. I wasn't sure how long it was going to take to get to Feros, so I decided that I may as well walk around the ship. I knew the others all had questions for me, so I may as well start telling them what I could now so that it doesn't become awkward later. With my mind made up I set off back toward the cockpit, deciding to deal with Joker first and get it over with.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Settling In**

"What, that's it?" Joker asked as I stood up from the co-pilots seat to leave.

I didn't stop moving as I replied, "That's it."

"Pff," Joker seemed irritated for whatever reason.

"What you were expecting something else?" I asked.

"Well, yeah!" Joker exclaimed throwing his hands up and turning to look at me, "You're telling me that through all three of these games I only had like, two moments where I absolutely kicked ass? _AND_ I don't get any chicks? I was a 'secondary' character in this thing?" I gave a nod to which he replied, "Lame."

I chuckled and decided to elaborate on one part, "Well, technically there were multiple possible romantic relationships that could occur throughout the games. I didn't mention them because they didn't have any significant impact on what was going on, plus it would probably be awkward for everyone."

"What?" Joker said incredulously, "Hell no! You are giving me details!"

I shook my head and tried to fight a grin as I started walking away, "See you later, Joker."

"Oh come on!" he shouted after me, "Fine! But next time you step into this cockpit you are telling me or I'll throw you out the airlock!"

I couldn't stop the grin from appearing as I rotated my head to the side to shout back at him, "Good luck with that!"

As I walked though the CIC I came to a stop next to Pressly. He turned and looked at me, "Oh, Dazac, I didn't see you there. Was there something you needed?"

"Um, well," I began, "I figured you pry had questions for me..."

"Hmm, not really," Pressly said with a shake of his head, catching me off guard. I must have been giving him a really confused look because he added, "You look like I just said something about all puppies being ugly..."

That knocked me out of the daze and I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Puppies?"

"It's a- Never mind," he said, "I trust Admiral Hackett's judgement on this, so I'm fine going along with it. Besides, Kaiden already filled most of us in before you got here. I think he pretty much put to rest most questions people would have come up with. If there's anything else they want to know I imagine they'd ask you. Plus Kaiden said he thinks you'd pry go to them with anything you thought they needed to know that wasn't a part of... well, you know."

I gave a nod of understanding, "Alright, thanks. So... really no questions?"

"Nope," Pressly said, "Not a one. Besides, the way I see it, anything that occurred in those games of yours is up in the air now that you've told us about it. Especially after we've dealt with Saren. A whole two years of us focusing on preparing for what's coming? I can't imagine that wouldn't change things."

"Heh, good point," I conceded.

There was a moment of awkward silence where I wasn't sure what to say, but Pressly spoke up then, "If there's nothing else, I've got to get back to work."

"Oh, yeah," I said giving him a nod and a smile, "Nice talking to you, and... thanks."

"You're welcome," he said before turning back to what he'd been doing.

Well so far so good. I hadn't had anyone give me the cold shoulder yet so that was something. Shepard seemed okay with it, if a little uncertain. Everyone else I'd spoken to though was taking it rather well. That meant they either genuinely trusted me, or were just waiting for me to slip up on something... So long as I didn't lie about anything, that shouldn't be a problem.

I made my way to the crew deck to see Kaiden walking out of Doctor Chakwas office. He gave me a smile and motioned with his thumb over his shoulder, "Hey Dazac, good timing. Doctor Chakwas wants you to go talk to her. Something about getting some more detailed medical records on file for you."

"Alright," I said, deciding to just go there and get it over with.

"Don't sound so enthused," Kaiden said as I passed.

"Oh, ha ha," I replied over my shoulder.

I walked into the medbay with a smile, Chakwas turning her head to look at me from where she was, doing something with one of the machines by the beds. "You look rather happy," she said as she stepped around the bed and strode toward me. I just shrugged, earning a chuckle from her before she motioned to the nearest bed, "Have a seat, Dazac. I just wanted to go over a basic medical history for our records. How about you start with anything you can think of?"

The next forty minutes consisted of going over all my past illnesses and injuries of note. I also told her of a genetic condition that made me seem anemic when I really wasn't. I was pleased when she told me that with a proper workout regimen and proper diet, it could actually benefit me; Something about my blood replenishing oxygen faster. Of course she told me I would need to be in peak condition, something I wasn't anywhere near. I left after talking to her about what sort of exercises I should do and what foods I should eat. The moment I stepped out my attention was dawn to the small mess area. Ashley and Liara were sitting there and Wrex was standing nearby with his arms crossed. They all turned to look at me at the same time and I knew what was coming before they even said anything.

* * *

Several hours later I found myself back on the crew deck. Ashley had been very skeptical about whether or not I was telling the truth with everything. I finally convinced her I was by talking to her about the poetry she liked and how she always read her dads favorite when she went to visit his grave. After an awkward silence with that, she let out a sigh and simply said "fine," before letting me know that she really didn't like the idea of me having a better understanding of everything going on. While I may have told the truth so far as she could tell, whether I could be trusted was apparently still a matter for debate in her eyes.

The conversation with Wrex was much shorter, and more surprising. As soon as I approached him, the first words out of his mouth were, "Where's my family armor?" I just blinked in disbelief before he let out a frustrated sigh, "Do you know or not?" I nodded dumbly and he asked me again where it was,so I told him that some turian collector had it on a planet called Tuntau. He gave a satisfied grunt after that and practically stormed off to the elevator.

Garrus and Tali were much more amiable, both telling me basically the same thing. They thought it was rather wild, but beyond that weren't sure what to think about it, and that if they ever had any questions they'd come to me. I spent a while talking with both of them about what their lives had been like before joining Shepard and got a basic description of rather monotonous days from each.

Now that I was on the crew deck I decided I'd try to find Liara. She hadn't really gotten a chance to say anything before I'd been dragged down to the hold. I made my way toward the medbay and opened the door. Dr. Chakwas looked up from where she was sitting at her terminal, "Yes, Dazac, did you need something?"

"Uh, no," I responded and pointed toward the far door, "Just going to see Liara."

That earned a sigh and a smile from Chakwas, "I think that would be more than ok. She came back rather disappointed that she didn't get the chance to talk to you. She said she had, 'So many questions about the Protheans,, it's hard to know where to start.'"

I nodded. I figured that's probably what she wanted to talk about. I made my way to the door and opened it, and sure enough Liara was sitting surrounded by datapads carefully going over what I assume were notes. The door closed behind me and I stood there for a moment, waiting for her to turn around. When she didn't, I tried clearing my throat. No response from her prompted me to try again, "Liara?" Nothing. She was really absorbed in those notes. I stepped toward her and gently rested my hand on her shoulder, "Liara?"

Big mistake.

In the next few moments there was a shriek, blue glow, blow that knocked the breath out of me, and door sliding open as Chakwas found my on the ground against the wall with Liara trying to prop me up. All this and all I could think to say was, "Ow."

Liara looked panicked and mortified as she crouched down next to me. "Goddess, I am so sorry Dazac! You startled me, and I-! I...well, I reacted without really thinking about where I was, and-... Oh, please tell me nothing's broken!"

As Chakwas used her Omni-tool to apply some medi-gel to the apparent bruising that the push had caused, I couldn't help but start laughing quietly. I held my head and grinned as I continued laughing and Liara simply gave me an incredulous look. "I just blasted you into a wall and could have seriously hurt you, and you're laughing?!"

That comment only made me laugh a bit harder and shake my head. I wiped at the tears forming in my eyes as I tried composing myself with some success before looking right at Liara. "I'm not laughing at that," I explained, "It's how you reacted to it!"

Liara frowned at me, "How I reacted? I was worried! What's so funny about that?"

"It's the game," I tried to explain, "You reacted exactly how I would have expected you to! Your personality is spot on with what I recall from the first game."

Liara looked at me for a moment before her frown disappeared, "I still don't see how it's funny."

Chakwas gave me a pat on the shoulder before turning around and leaving the room. I waited until the door had closed behind her before trying to talk again. "It's not so much that it was funny," I said, "It's more like relief." At the confused look she gave me I smiled and took a breath before getting to my feet and then explained, "It's a relief to know that it's not just the crummy things from the games that remained true, but the really good things too."

"I'm... I'm not sure I understand," Liara stated, "Me, being how you expected, is a good thing?"

I gave a nod, "Yes!" I sighed and looked around the room, taking a few steps toward the desk where all the datapads were scattered. I turned to look at Liara again and she was watching me with a confused look. "I guess..." I started and then groaned, "I'm not really sure how to phrase it... Um, well, in the games there was a part that I didn't mention in what I wrote down for everyone, mostly because it didn't really have a big impact on events, just on certain characters."

"It's difficult to imagine that _I_ was... Am, a character in a video game, where you're from," Liara said to me.

"Yeah," I replied, "I guess that would be a bit difficult to believe... Anyway, in the games the player could pursue relationships with some of the other characters."

"Wait! What?" Liara said with wide eyes. I just gave her a nod as if to confirm that she'd heard correctly. "Are you implying that I was one of those characters?"

Now I was feeling slightly awkward, "Uh, well... yeah."

She shook her head and looked at the ground, covering her face with one hand and muttering, "Goddess. What does any of this have to do with you laughing because I'm what you expected?"

"I'm getting to it," I assured her, "So, yeah, you were one of those characters. I played through all the games at least a few times and when I did, most of the times I played, I selected you as the love interest because I really liked your personality. It was more appealing than most of the other people's. So that's why I was laughing. I was happy to know that what I found appealing was still there."

I looked at Liara and waited for a response. She just blinked at me with wide eyes for several moments before trying to speak. When she did, she seemed to have a difficult time looking directly at me though. "Are..." she started, pausing to take a deep breath, "Ok... Are you saying that you're attracted to me in real life now and want to pursue a relationship?"

... And now it was my turn to blink with wide eyes. That had obviously not been taken the way I thought it would be. I finally found my voice then, actually startling Liara at first, "NO! that's not what I was trying to say! I just meant that I was glad to see something I liked about you actually turn out to be real!... Dammit, that's not any better! I mean, it's not like I don't like you. It's that I do and-..."

My words just trailed off and I stood there mortified. If I hadn't been so thoroughly embarrassed now, I pry would have laughed at how similar this conversation was to the one in the game... only, I was making a fool of myself in this case. We stood there for what felt like forever but was likely only a few minutes at most, without saying anything.

It was Liara who finally broke the silence, "Perhaps, we should focus on something else."

Yes! Something else would be, much better. Liara seemed to be looking around as if to find something to talk about. "Protheans?" I offered.

Liara's reply was immediate and rapid as she looked at me, "Yes! Protheans! Let''s talk about the Protheans." She moved to sit down and I stepped out of the way as she did, "I actually wanted to ask you what you knew about them. You had written that we actually found and worked alongside one in these games? What can you tell me about that?"

Ok, this was a better topic. I pulled a crate over to sit on as I started telling Liara what I could.

* * *

_**A/N: Alright, so this is the longest chapter yet at a bit over 2500 words. I really enjoyed writing this chapter and hope I did all the characters justice. Feedback is the lifeblood of writing, and how we learn and become better writers, so please leave a review if you can and let me know your thoughts on the story, what you like, what you didn't like, etc.**_


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**A Start, Sort of**

To say I spent a long time answering questions would be an understatement. Liara kept me in there for nearly four hours, not only asking me to go over everything I knew in excruciating detail, but filling me in on some things I didn't know... in excruciating detail. Talking about what the Prothean Empire was like didn't anger her as much as I thought it would. I figured she'd defend her views and theories about what the Prothean's were like, but instead she sat in silence as I explained and then asked me to elaborate on what I could. I could tell it bothered her and was simply thankful she hadn't brought up the bit about the beacon on Thessia. I knew I'd have to explain it eventually, but I really didn't know how she would react to finding out about it before seeing it firsthand.

It was finally my stomach that ended the discussion with a loud gurgling sound. I just looked down at my stomach before looking back up to Liara, "Uh..."

"Oh, um," Liara started as she looked away and apparently realized the time, "Oh my, I didn't realize how late it had gotten. I'm sorry, you're sitting here starving and I'm rambling on about the Prothean's"

I smiled at her statement before saying, "It's alright. I enjoyed the talk." I stood and asked, "You want to go grab something to eat?"

"Oh, no thank you," she replied as she pulled her chair closer to the desk before turning to look at me, "I'm not hungry right now, plus I should probably be going over the rest of the information you gave us rather than my old notes."

I had to pause and think for a moment before looking at her questioningly, "You didn't read everything?"

She shook her head, "I'm afraid not. I was so shocked with everything, I must have read over everything at least ten times before moving to the next thing! I only got up to the part about retrieving that Krogan female from Sur'Kesh."

Well, that explains why she didn't ask about the beacon... My reply was less than graceful, simple, "Oh, ok," and then I left heading back through the medbay and to the open area of the crew deck. Once I'd stepped out I realized how tired I actually was and decided a quick bite to eat and then some sleep was in order.

* * *

I had stepped into one of the sleeper pods to try and get some rest. It was difficult to tell how much time had passed since I'd fallen asleep, but I guess it didn't really matter either. I'd been woken up by one of the crew members and told Shepard wanted to speak with me in the comm room, so I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I ascended the staircase to the CIC and then made the sharp turn to head into the comm room. When I stepped into the comm room I saw Shepard with his back to me, standing in front of the comm terminal and speaking to the holograms of Admiral Hackett and Nihlus.

Shepard turned when the door swished shut and I quickly cleared my throat before speaking, "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes," Shepard said with a nod motioning for me to come closer, "We were just talking about you actually."

"Greetings, Dazac," Nihlus said as I came to stand next to Shepard.

"Hey, Nihlus," I replied and then looked at Hackett, "Admiral."

"Praeletum," Hackett responded, "Glad you could make it. We need to talk about the Cipher."

"Ok..." I said, not really sure what about it the wanted to discuss.

"We've been going over what you've told us and have come to a disagreement with one of your statements on it," Nihlus explained, "Specifically the one where you said you thought we wouldn't need it now that we already now what is going on."

"You think we do need it?" I asked.

"Absolutely," Nihlus replied, "It appears as though the Cipher is what will allow us to operate any Prothean technology we might come across. We may not need it to understand the warning from the Beacon, but it does have other uses, perhaps even some we are unaware of."

I nodded, that made sense so I couldn't find any argument against it. "Alright," I said, "So we get the Cipher and the samples from the Thorian."

"Yes, but that's not all," Shepard said, drawing my gaze, "Having only me obtain the Cipher is going to make us rather ineffective if some Protehan data is uncovered and I'm not there to make sense of it."

I could understand that too. I turned my head back toward Nihlus and Hackett before I looked back a Shepard, "So we're going to have Shiala come with us instead of staying on Feros?"

The other three looked at each other and Hackett brought his hand to his chin in thought. "That's not a bad idea, actually."

"She has the Cipher and the direct contact with the Thorian," Nihlus said, nodding. "Mordin could obtain more samples from her as well as document the effects the Thorian has, and we'd have the Cipher."

"Is that safe though?" Shepard asked, "She is working for Saren and Benezia, and she's indoctrinated."

"The influence from the Thorian negates the indoctrination though," I said.

"It's a sound idea," Hackett said, "I say we go with it in addition to our original idea."

"Original idea?" I asked, realizing that what I had mentioned was not what they'd been planning.

"Yes," Nihlus said, "We believe it would be best if you obtained the Cipher as well."

..."That would mean Shiala going into my head," I said.

"That's correct," Nihlus said.

"We think she could be an asset if she was in on all this," Hackett explained.

My mouth twisted into a frown, "But, she's indoctrinated. The Reapers could have access to her thoughts."

"Yes, but if things go as you described them, that will be a moot point," Hackett said, "She's a trained Asari commando, and our best chance at figuring out if we can find a way to block indoctrination."

"Her biotics are going to become unstable though," I explained.

"Unstable?" Shepard asked, "Why didn't you mention that in what you told us?"

"I didn't think it would be relevant!" I exclaimed, "It's a side effect of her time connected to the Thorian. Her biotics are going to become unstable and her skin pigment is going to turn green. There will pry be other complications as well, but those were the two specifically mentioned."

"Perhaps Mordin could find a way to fix those problems," Nihlus offered, "Either way, you'll still be taking her on board the Normandy once you find her. We can figure out where she'll ultimately end up once she's on board."

_"Commander, we're ten minutes out from Feros,"_ Joker's voice said over the rooms speakers.

Shepard looked up and then back to Hackett, "Was there anything else Admiral?"

Hackett shook his head, "No, I think that's it."

"Aye, aye sir," Shepard said, saluting the Admiral.

Hackett gave a salute back, "Good luck on Feros, Commander."

With that the forms of Hackett and Nihlus disappeared and I turned to Shepard. The commander looked at me and gave a curt nod, "Let's gear up and get to it."

I nodded silently and followed him as he made his way out of the comm room. we went down and let everyone know we were about to land. Five minutes later, everyone was present and getting their gear on. "So, Dazac, what can we expect in the colony?" Kaiden asked.

"Well," I said as I finished attaching an arm piece and grabbed the other one, "In the game there were Geth attacking the colony trying to get to the Thorian. There was a guy who ran out to meet you that got blown away by a rocket... the colony was in disrepair and needed help getting things like water and power running again."

"I thought we were here to fight," Wrex complained, "I didn't come with to play 'engineer.'"

"Well," I continued, "In order to put the Geth out of commission we'll have to head to the Exogeni headquarters. On the way, there should be some survivors from there... hopefully the Jeong guy from the game doesn't exist here..."

"Why's that?" Ashley asked as she checked over her rifle.

"Cause I'm gonna deck him if he is there," I explained.

"He really that bad?" Garrus asked.

"Most of the people he works with are dead and the only thing he's worried about is protecting the company's secrets," I explained, "Besides, decking him is better than the alternative of putting a round in his head." I finished with the second arm piece and then pulled on and secured the gloves before continuing, "We can also get a mild nerve toxin for use in grenades from one of the researchers there. It should be able to knock the colonists out when we come back."

"Otherwise we have to kill them," Shepard finished.

I gave a nod as I grabbed my helmet, "Yeah."

"Where's the Thorian at exactly?" Ashley asked.

I put my helmet on and secured it, activating the internal HUD so that I could see despite the solid plate covering most of my face. "Beneath the colony. They should have moved a ship over the entrance. We can move it with a crane when we get back."

"You said there was some data on the Geth here?" Tali asked.

I turned to her and nodded, "Yeah. It'll be in the Exogeni building in the same room with that shutter we can close to dislodge the Geth ship."

I secured my pistol to my side and joined the others as we all moved to the elevator. Everyone was going... this was going to be interesting.

* * *

As soon as we stepped out of the airlock and walked onto the platform we saw the guy running up to meet us. Without missing a beat Shepard surged forward while the rest of us drew our guns. "Get down!" Shepard ordered as he practically tackled the man out of the way just before a rocket went sailing by and slammed into the wall, sending fragments of stone flying as we all ducked into cover or began firing at the Geth. They went down quickly under the combined fire of the eight of us.

"Ashley, Wrex, you're on point!" Shepard ordered

"Liara and Dazac, you stay back here with him," Shepard said as he motioned toward the colonist, "We'll radio you once we've cleared the Geth and then you can make sure he's gets back to the colony safely. The rest of you, with me!"

I looked at Shepard incredulously even though he couldn't see it from behind the helmet. My first major mission and he was having me hang back to watch a colonist with Liara. Was it really necessary for me to be there? I mean, I'd contributed to taking out the Geth just a minute ago. Instead of saying anything though I just nodded. It was pry for the best anyway. I knew I'd be seeing action soon enough here.

"I don't understand why he asked both of us to stay back here," Liara said, "Only one would be adequate."

"Hmph, I know," I replied as I looked at her, "I get the feeling the Commander isn't exactly convinced of our combat abilities."

"Hmm, I suppose so," Liara said, "On Therum I only cowered while the others fought, and then there was your... incident at Arcturus."

I groaned and brought a gloved hand slapping onto my helmet, "Please don't bring that up."

I heard Liara chuckle, "Alright. Well, while we're waiting..."

I looked at Liara to see her checking to make sure the colonist was safe. He was, and he was hunkered down near the Normandy's docking platform while we were at the corner, facing toward where the others had disappeared.

"I finished reading everything you wrote down for us about those games," Liara said, "...Why didn't you mention that there was a Protehan beacon on Thessia?"

...Shit...

"Um, well," I said looking away from her and toward the entryway the others had gone through, "I didn't really want to..." I decided the truth would be best here, "Because there were some things about it that I didn't mention, because they weren't exactly relevant to the Reapers."

"What sort of things?" Liara asked cautiously.

"Um... Athame was a Prothean...?" I offered with a shrug.

Liara's eye's widened in shock, "Wh-what? Athame was a-... what proof do you have!"

Crud, how to explain this... "Well, in the third game when the Prothean was on the team, he explained during one point about how they had... seen the potential the Asari had. So, they 'guided' the Asari when necessary." Liara simply stared at me in silence and her gaze was making me feel uncomfortable. I could see a sea of emotions churning in her eyes. It was obvious she didn't know what to make of what I'd just told her. Thankfully, she wouldn't get the chance to dwell on any of it right now.

_"Liara, Dazac, the route to the colony is clear,"_ Shepard said over the radio.

I brought a hand up to my helmet, "Got it Commander, we're on our way." I looked to Liara, "We can talk more later, alright? For now we need to focus on the mission."

Liara nodded, "Yes, of course, you're right. There will be plenty of time for question once we're done."

I gave a nod and then went to retrieve the colonist who was still hiding by the docking platform. The Feros mission was about to start in earnest, and the anticipation was starting to make me feel slightly giddy.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long to get up. Don't worry, we'll start seeing a lot more action in the coming chapters as well as seeing more of the relationships between characters developing. Please leave a review if you want to say something and I'll try to start addressing things in the coming chapters. Ciao.**


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